In light of the escalating crime rate in Trinidad and Tobago, and the perceived impotence of the Police Service to arrest the situation, I want to once again bring up the idea of decentralization of the major law-enforcement bodies.
In order to have a potent crime fighting and crime preventing organization, that organization must have:
(1) the tools to fight and prevent crime,
(2) the infrastructure to house and operate from,
(3) the support of the justice system,
and more importantly the confidence and faith of the people they are employed to serve and protect.
There is clear evidence that with the rapid and continuous growth and development of many sectors of the T&T community, having a Police Service that is administered and controlled from one un-strategic location in the capital city, cannot and will not work effectively.
What I am suggesting here is the need for separate and independent Police Services, either by counties divisions or cities, and accountable to the elected representative of the people in that location. In other words you will have for example: an Arima Police Service or a St Andrew/St David Service Police etc. These Law enforcement agencies will be budgeted for, recruited, trained, managed and controlled by the county, city or jurisdiction where they are headquartered. With such a system in place, it will be more easy and feasible for a well equipped, well trained and well supported Police to understand and satisfy the protective needs of the community.
We have the wealth, we have the technology and we have mature, knowledgeable competent individuals and organizations to make this happen. The only possible impedance may be selfishness, lack of foresight and open-mindedness to produce and accept change by some of the people in the position to do so.
John Crick
T&T Citizen
One of the major problems in T&T is the oppressive and arrogant attitudes of those in positions of authority.Civil servants, policemen, politicans and other self serving patriots develop false, superior, and haughty dispositions akin to their colonial masters.Trinidadians think, that in their egotistical and objectionable natures, that they know best.They lack the tolerance and reasoning to objectively analyse any situation.As long as they perpetuate these false and “know it all” characteristics they will forever languish in global obscurity.
Vision 2020…a mere pipe dream!
I do agree that proper equipment and infrastructure is needed in an attempt to arrest the crime situation. I have noticed that in the USA, crime is always a problem, but what the law enforcement agencies possess is the technological advances to adequately meet the challenges. For example, nearly all those who break the speed limit on any given roadway do so at their own peril, as officers are equipped with radars to detect violators. There is a plethora of forensic labs (private and state run) that perform vital services to prosecutors.
And while I agree that there is need for change within the infrastructure of law enforcement within Trinidad and Tobago, I must hasten to caution that as with the current political structure, absolute power corrupts absolutely. To this end, I foresee that such an endeavor (as suggested above) would lead to more bureaucracy and further corruption.
Since the local municipalities would be responsible for funding, and since it is reasonable to deduce that this will be paid for from local taxes, then what is also foreseeable is West Moorings having one of the best police forces in the country while Laventille remains a hotbed of crime. What this also suggests is that one region’s prices for goods and services would be higher than another as taxes are levied to meet the demands placed on the politicized police force.
I am happy to see that serious thought is being given to finding solutions to the problem of crime in TnT, as the article by John Crick demonstrates along with the constructive responses given to the suggestions made.
I am not sure that decentralization of the Police Service would be workable. As one of the responders noted, there would be a risk that more affluent communities would have more resources than the ones where crime is heavily concentrated at this time. There is also the question of whether any one community would be able to afford the technology required to combat criminal elements that are growing in knowledge and sophistication relative to avoiding detection, prosecution and incarceration.
Even so, there is merit to the argument that communiity policing has advantages which would not be realized under the system currently being applied. For example, rapid deployment in emergency situations, familiarity with the residents, accountability, visibility serving as a deterrent, etc.
I also believe that the solution to crime would not be found entirely in more vigorous law enforcement. We must dig deeper to uncover reasons for crime and criminality in order to fashion the appropriate remedies. Are there social, political, economic or other causes of crime. Thus, while more vigilant measures may offer come relief in the shorterm, more enduring results would only materialize as the fruits of careful research and objective analysis.
Thanks for the opportunity to share these few words.
I have a question for your fine and educated and patriotic folks here on this Forum…I really mean that from the heart because at least you are trying to say something and not just sitting on your ” buns” and twiddling your thumbs!
My question directly relates to the abject CRIME situation and Traffic Congestion and High Food Prices plaguing our TNT.
(a) There is somebody ( at least on Paper ) in charge?
Remember the Last Terminator movie when the person from Montana asked ,” who is in Charge?”
The Connor fellow answered ,” I am!”
Question then for TNT …who is in charge of the Country ?
(b) If the answer is: ” The Government is in charge!”
My hard question is this: Who and what is the Government in reality ,not theory ?
(c) Am I wrong in saying that the Government ,in reality,is comprised of the (Majority Party Plus the Minority Party ) who were elected to the Parliament ?
(d) If I am right then THE GOVERNMENT IS IN CHARGE OF THE COUNTRY AND THE GOVERNMENT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR WHATEVER STATE THE COUNTRY IS IN ?
Sure we could hear the litany of woes and throes which shall issue from the Minority and the Majority Members of the Government and the blame laying left,right and center and the useless explanations and as to why the lying election promises are never kept and the postulating and “gooble-de-gook” explanations and just plain and simple lies as to why TNT is where we are today a little better than Beirut ( at least in Beirut victims of violence sometimes have guns to fight back!)and despite our Country’s immense wealth we are in such a sorry situation and all we hear is “ole talk and more useless ole talk and more and more lies from The Government?”
So,I ask you folks to clarify and elucidate some of the questions and please,do not duck the questions and hide behind the hope that ” they will just go away ” if you avoid them because I will not as long as the Moderators allow me space to write because I sincerely believe that you folks can make a difference as soon as you ” cast of the coward fit ” and come out from behind your ” little fear screens ” and speak out without fear of loss because you are smarter than the,more intelligent,more eloquent ,better read,better thinkers,way more sound morally, than the idiots in Parliament!
The only edge they have you folks is they were able to use ” race” to con some people in staining the finger for them!
They have been doing it so long that they are really great at what they do,” don people via race!” and convince them that they could do for them what they should be doing for themselves!
Please, answer the questions !
Corrections please….
It is meant to read thus:
“….you folks are smarter,way more intelligent,more eloquent ,better read,better thinkers,way more sound morally, than the idiots in Parliament!
The only edge they have on you folks is they are past and present ” masters” of using “race” to con some people to keep electing them to Parliament by ” fooling some people into ” sincerely believing that these idiotic political con artist can do for the people of INT what the people of TNT can surely do for themselves.
Trust me when I tell you that these Political and idiotic con artist in Parliment are really great at what they do and they have decades of experience at what they do…they are really ,really ,great at doing it after all how many times they have conned even you and I into staining our finger for them?
Come next election you mark my words and mark it well things will be at best a little less worst and wrost simply more worst!
De-Centralization along with an infusion of 21st century human and technological resources can indeed bring crime down to manageable proportions. There is no such thing as a crime free state, so the vision has to be tapered to realistic possible achievements.
De-centralization might render obsolete the bureaucratic inadequacy of the power drunk mental lilliputians who make decisions from afar. Such de-centralization should be nationally funded, weighted with proportional emphasis for communities like Laventille.
From the start the political power has to accept that the situation is unusual and thus require attention and methodology beyond the norm. There should be every effort to put together a multi-partisan, and I mean a real multi-partisan committee, comprising Enforcement Agency/State/Opposition/Business/Civil Society and external advisory expertise, and charge it with the responsibility of preparing and monitoring a plan of action. There is need for undercover and quick responses arrangements designed for crime detection beyond personal reporting, and cornering of areas and perps before escapes can be made. They have to take one area and concentrate methodolgies there, tweak them as necessary, and with success extrapolate them across all crime infested areas.
The problem with Law Enforcement in our Republic is that it remains in the same staid pattern in which it has existed for centuries, while criminality has evolved. The wheels in the heads of the poor sods charged with its administration are turning at the same speed as that of their predecessors five decades ago.
Mr.Daniels you are a fellow who thinks things out way more than I do and having read your article above I can see exactly where you are coming from and I agree with some of what you have said and with respect to other things I shall say that ,” I shall hope that you may wish to consider another angle and another look and you probably will see even further along than I can!”.
I must acknowledge that I may not always agree with what you say but we can surely agree that we all want an end to this continuing siege upon us a nation and a people by the vicious and immoral and nasty criminals out there be they in suits or with their pants hanging off their behinds be they black ,white,Indian,African,Rich,Poor and Syrian…we want them all captured ,tried and jailed ( if they are guilty) and shot if they resist arrest either way we want them gone forever or for as long as we can keep them ” just gone!”
You mentioned ” five decades ago ” which puts us back in 1958 and to my mind it shall be a blessing if we can go back to 1958 in terms of law and order and law enforcement.
I do not think that the Criminals have evolved as much as they appear to but that the Government has lost the will to bring the Criminals to heel despite the numerous resources which they have and it seems to me that instead of relying on the experience of the local law enforcement people to “kill or capture and put to rest ” this crime beast the government has turned to Foreigners to ” kill the crime beast” which policy has failed most miserably.
It seems to me that we need to look to countries ( if we need to find the model to which we can realistically aspire with respect to crime prevention in a democracy as ours ) which have collared the problems and have defeated the ” crime beast.”
Why look to England and The USA ?
Why not look to Cuba ,Sweden,Norway and (yes) Gitmo ?
Yes.Gitmo does not have any crime at all ( that is the extreme end and extreme crime needs extreme measures to combat it so please,do not start with Anti American sentiments but look at the methods used to “hold down ” the so called terrorist at Gitmo…it works for those being held down are not blowing up anything but their egos right now!
Look at the security the Citizens of these areas and countries enjoy and ask ourselves why is it we cannot enjoy the same security like these folks ?
Are we a ” lesser deserving “people than they are ? Are we placed on some kind of ” punishment ” as a people or are we bogged down too much in SOMETHING which allows a few craven low life criminals to dominate our entire country as obtains at present ?
TAKE A LOOK AT WHO IS UNDER ATTACK ?
How many Government Ministers and Party Big Wigs and big shot businessmen and Syrians and whites are robbed and murdered ? How many Police and Soldiers are Robbed and Murdered? How many Prison Officers are robbed and murdered ?
I always wonder how come bandits and kidnappers and murderers do not attack Government Ministers and Members of Parliament and the Super Rich Business people ?
Like I say,I always ask the hard questions ..do you folks have answers or hard questions to ask ?
I do not just talk .I offer solutions also!
I have said it many times that I shall (not can or will but SHALL) win the war on crime and take TNT back to the security of ( five decades ago ) 1958 and I shall win the war in eighteen months within the law and the Constitution and at Low Cost and as a Bonus I shall solve the Traffic Congestion in Two Years!
No one has ever taken me up on it but I have gotten several request for my plans from lower echelon officials hoping to steal my plans and my question is “I may be not as smart as you folks but I am not a fool!”
So that is my two cents and no amount of new technology shall avail anything but an emptying of the treasury into the pockets of some slick foreign sales people and maybe the ” deal making ” officials who get the kick backs?
Like I said,It is all racialism mook!
I remain,your humble,but always fearless TNT Republican.
Today I had the honour of listening to Senator Barrack Obama
and I wondered: Shall we ever here a New voice in Politics in TNT like Obama ?
Then I went back and re-read some of the post of Mr.Daniels,Mr.Mulchansingh,Ms.Edwards,Mr.Crick and others and I asked myself…what ails you folks that you dared not step up to the plate and begin to bat ? Why is it you folks are not in Parliament ? Like I have said you folks are smarter,more intelligent,way more morally solid,decent and better educated and better thinkers than some of the idiots which have disgraced our Parliament and impoverished our country by their lack of anyhing but negatives and lies and waste of our resources ….why don’t you guys just get into the ring???
1958 Criminality did not operate with AK47s, did not have cell phones to coordinate their activities. 1958 criminality could not get advisories from the internet on how to execute and plan their assaults upon their victims. It is the inability to understand the role all of these facets play in the enactment of crime that stutters efforts to combat it.
You said crimninality had not evolved. Well let me ask this. What was the modus operandi for robbery back then? What was the weapon of choice for bandits? How many people died each year then from violent crimes in comparison to now? If there is no difference in the technologies involved then there was no evolution. If there is you need to go back and ponder over that word.
Criminality in T&T has evolved much faster than law enforcement’s efforts and strategies to cope with it. And that represents the core of the problem. Law Enforcement need to drastically reduce the time it takes to respond to a scene. Law Enforcement need to develop better intelligence gathering and suspect monitoring capabilities. Law enforcement need to develope its capability to profile, not by race or other immutable characteristics, but by modus operandi and habits the most successfull law enforcement agencies in the world focus on. Law enforcement cannot eradicate criminality. What effective law enforcement does is increase the risks for criminal conduct to the point where, for many, it becomes a deterrent
Actually Mr.Daniels,the criminals have not really
“evolved” and are far more ” stupid” that he criminals of 1958 because the criminals of 1958 were not driven by “drugs” and the desire to rack up
“kills” nor notches on the guns and they were way ahead of the ” stupid” and ” caveman” like fools of today who masquerade as ” bad men ” etc….the criminals of 1958 did not ” murder ” each other and did not ” kill” for thrills and pleasure and hardly ever needed to ” kill witnesses” because they were smart enough not to be seen and identified and they also knew that by introducing ” murder” into the mix infuriated the public and drove the police harder to solve the crime thereby increasing the chances of being caught as you aptly put it,” increased to risk!”
Today,what you have is a less intelligent criminal who is our of control like a rat in a land with no natural predators and so the ” idiots” increase in numbers and in stupidity and crimes which reflect the stupidity.
The choice of weapon to commit the crime is not a reflection of the ” evolution” of the criminal but a reflection of the ” availability” of choices of weapons.
It does not matter what the weapon is in a robbery what matters is the success of the robbery.
The huge British Train robbery was pulled off without a GUN and those fellows could have gotten modern weapons if they wanted to do so.
If you examine the murders they are stupid and senseless like the murder of the very popular dentist for a ” few ” dollars.
The murder was not that of an ” evolved” criminal but that of a fool from the dark ages who was scared and stupid for why kill the dentist who will have gladly gave up the few dollars ? Why rob a dentist office when you could rob a bank?
Where is the evolution?
Maybe if you shall study the methods used by bank robbers,burglars,pickpockets,shop lifters,house breakers,sneak thieves and “snatch and run” bandits and ” choke and rob” bandits of the 1958’s and compare their monetary success and their rate of evading capture you will se a ” devolution” or
” degeneration” of the criminals not an evolution and that applies even to the ” White Collar ” criminals of today who steal so much form the Government that they attract quite a lot of attention and even a blind dog with a note in its mouth can discover that “they thief!” and that they are ” corrupt”….is that evolution ? Seems to me it is more like ” stupidity” and arrogance!
Methinks you folks think too highly of the so called,” criminals!”
If there is any evolution it is towards a different area of crime which is the result of legislation from the USA which drifted down here and became accepted by the lackluster and unthinking members of parliament ….the drug gangs were created by Government just as the URLF and the DEWD ( copy cat mafia rackets) were created by the Government. That is not an ” evolution” because the ” feel good crimes” ( where folks provided bush rum to the people ) did not evolved into the ” drug crimes” it was the law against drugs which created those crimes!
That is not evolution but ” creation!”
I see an idiot with access to some guns and if there is any evolution is in the folks who have the ability to ” import” the guns into TNT and allow access to those guns by some ” back of the woods retards” masquerading as ” criminals!” and getting away with it because of the lack of understanding by ( not law enforcement” but by the powers that be who have not a clue as to what is really going on!
Cell phone co-ordination ? Are you referring to the real professional kidnappers or the ” idiots” with access to guns ?
Now they have ( the kidnappers ) have not evolved because they are ( think here and think hard ) well educated and well informed people who have turned to crime and many of them have connections in high places because how do you hide millions ?
Are you seriously saying or suggesting that the little “punk arse retards ” from the Laventille hills who cannot even afford a lawyer when arrested have the capability of laundering Millions ? Or of importing weapons like AK-47’s and Glocks into TNT ?
They will not even now how to import a pound of cheese into this country …do you ?
Now if I really go further into debunking your theory about ” evolution” I shall allow too much knowledge into a world which I know extremely well and so allow some of my ideas to slip out and trust me when I say ” I can end the war on crime ” in eighteen months.
There is no evolution but rather a “devolution” in the commission crimes in TNT!
Harry Williamn I said criminality has evolved. I hope people in here note your inability to interpret nuanced commentary. It matters not that the IQ of a criminal today is the same as one in 1958. The methodology, the modus operandi has evolved. What kind of a jackass are you anyway that you cannot comprehend something as simp-le as that?
This will be last attempt to engage you in lucid debate. From here on I will continue to respond to your idiocy by illuminating it as it occurs. You are not cognitively competent to debate anyone on this DB.
Quote Mr.daniels ,” You are not cognitively competent to debate anyone on this DB.” Unquote
That is YOUR opinion and when it comes to opinions in ths world there are numerous opinions and you are not in a position to speak for the other people here because each of them by their positive writings and even their negative writings have demonstrated manifestly to all that they are quite capable of speaking for themselves and expressing their very own opinions which may or may not agree with your opinions.
Your statement smacks of the very attitude of the idiots who by virtue of RACIAL VOTING has saddle this great nation with their idiotic and incompetent rule for well over fifty years …a rule punctuated by Rising Crime,senseless murders,traffic congestions ( 3 hours to go from point A to B a distance of eight Km ) repression and jailing of the opposition and an abject and malodorous corruption which rots our institutions from the inside out…yes Mr>Daniels,your statement reflects the same kind of attitude which has placed us in the position in which a brilliant people have found ourselves as you hide like the members of parliament behind the ” gobble de gook!”
Mr.Daniels,Mr.Daniels,you need too ,” chill out” a bit …taker a step back a bit and calm down quite a bit because you are just a bit “too hot” under collar.
It seems so silly and counter productive when you ( with ,quite frankly,no measurable effect that I know of ) dive into with your feet first into the ” attack mode” and quite realistically I shall not come into that dirty and murky water after you but shall direct your attention to what you have said and point out ,most respectfully to you,where you need of explanation and or need to apply more positive and direct research before you place the
( poison??) pen to paper!
You said ” Criminality has evolved” and I say no it has no evolution there at all because ( except for the feel great crimes and the true professional kidnappers ) it is the same old crimes ,which have been around for ages ,with which we are having the serious problems solely because of the level of violence which attend such crimes and this is not an evolution but a ” devolution”or degeneration of criminality in TNT.
To hide your mis- understanding of the situation and to justify and cover up your need to ” attach high sounding names and phrase ” to what is in reality simple and rude and crude behavior by a bunch of cowardly and semi illiterate and stupid retards and failures who infest our great TNT you yap and yap about AK-47’s and ” Evolution” of criminality and the usual play with and on words with which you seem to be excellent at but when it comes down to the ” nitty gritty” and the manifest solutions you seem quite vacant like” knock,knock,oops nobody home!”
The fact of the matter is this: We in TNT ,I humbly suggest,do not give a rat’s behind about all that bleat and pleat but what we do want to see is (1) A manifest stating of exist in reality(2) we already know much of that and what the effects are (3) How the we make these sons of a bitches who are terrorizing our TNT ” disappear” like the well over US $ 55,000,000.00 of our oil dollars have
” disappeared ” into some place called ” oblivion ?”
So maybe you do not really comprehend the simplicity of the above and prefers to direct your pen to the poison center gory with me as your target or is it your duty ( as you may see it ) to silence me and detract away for the Hard Questions as you perhaps.seek, to maintain the sat us quo ( the business as usual ) as you defend the powers that be which has allowed you a place in their wills?
“me eh know ,just asking !”
The fearless TNT Republican and have a pleasant day Mr.Daniels.
I AM A CITIZEN OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. I LIVED IN ST JAMES FOR ALL MY LIFE. MY FAMILY IS WELL KNOWN AND SO TO WAS MY IN-LAW-. MY LIFE GROWING UP WAS QUITE AN EXPERIENCE. WE HAD THE BRIAN JEFFERS INCIDENT, OH YEAH RIGHT ON OUR STREET, WE HAD MANY CERFEW AND MANY TIMES A STATE OF EMERGENCY. AS KIDS WHO CARES ABOUT THESE THINGS HUH. RANDOLPH BURROUGHS RUNNING THROUGH YOUR HOUSE, AND SCARING THE HELL OUT OF YOU. AND THE SOLDIERS RAFIQUE SHAH, AND HIS TEAMMATES TRYING TO TAKE OVER THE WRONG TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT. OH WHAT DID WE KNOW AT THE TIME, WE WERE ONLY KIDS. THEN IF YOU LEAVE THE MANY DIFFERENT INCIDENTS NOT EXCLUDING ABU BAKER AND HIS NIGHTMAREISH OVER THROWING OF THE GOVERNMENT. AND HIS NUMEROUS HORRENDOUS ORDEALS THAT HE AND HIS FOLLOWERS HAD DONE TO CITIZENS AND TO THE STATE MEMEMBERS. WHICH INCLUDED MURDER AND THE FREEING OF THOSE SAME LAWBREAKERS WITH THE ISSUING OF LAND AND STUFF, WHY COMPLAIN OUR NATION IS INDEED AT A HIGH PEAK OF CRIME. WHAT IS DIFFERENT THEN OR DIFFERENT NOW…..I MAKE NO SENSE HUH……….I UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM DOING RIGHT NOW. WRITING THIS LITTLE COMMENT..I AM NOT MAKING SENSE….I AM NOT WRITING ANYTHING THAT HAS A FOUNDATION.I AM NOT TELLING YOU ANYTHING THAT OU ALREADY DONT KNOW. BUT MOST OF ALL I AM NOT EXPLAING MYSELF SPECIFICALLY. DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND WHERE I AM AT…….OK. TAKE SENSE OUT OF NONSENSE, FOR YEARS OUR COUNTRY HAS THIS LITTLE THING GOING ON,AND IT IS WAY PASS OUR LEADERS, WHO ARE LEADERS MIND YOU. THAT CRIME PAYS AND WILL STAY. TNT LEADERS AND LAW ENFORCEMENTS RULERS, ALONG WITH THE OPPOSITION PARTIES AND RENEGADES, HAS AIDED AND ABETTED AND ENDORSED THE STANDARD OF CRIME TO A MARGIN OF PERSONAL GAIN. TODAY OUR YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN ARE BEING KILLED AND SENT TO THE SLAUGHTER, WHILE THOSE IN POWER STAYS IN THE GAME, WITH NO LOSS IN FINACIAL GROWTH NOR FAMILY MEMBERS. FOR THE PRICE IS RIGHT. WHEN YOU HAVE ILLEGAL POWER TO FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS, THE LEGAL POWER USES YOUR INABLILTIY TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT, AND BENFIT FROM THE OBJECTIVES THAT THEIR IS TOO MUCH CRIME..OUR LEADERS HAVE ACTUALLY ALLOWED DRUGS AND OTHER STUFF OT PREVAIL, LYING TO THE PEOPLE, WE ARE STANIDNG BY YOUR SIDE, WE ARE MAKING A CHANGE, OH YES THEY MAKING ALOT OF CHANGE IN THEIR POCKETS, WE PLEDGE OUR LIVES TO THEE TO BRING HOPE AND PEACE TO EVERY CREED AND RACE. DOYU KNOW WHAT I THINK. OUR COUNTRY IS RUN BY A SET OF LIARS AND HIPPOCRITES AND THEIVES…THE BEST THING WE CAN DO, FOR IT DOESN”T TAKE BRAINS TO RUN OUR COUNTRY, IS TO TAKE UP ARMS AND AMMUNITION, OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT, OR JOIN THE LAW ENFORMCEMENT TO ENFORCE YOUR LAW, AND THEN IN THE EVENT OF IT ALL…..HEH. IT WILL BE MR SENATOR,YOU JUST FINE. I LOVE YOUR CAR,OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL HOUSE, EH BOY I HEARD THE GUY AND HIS FAMILY ALL DEAD YESTERDAY, YOU SEE GOD LOVE YOU HE CAN”T TRY TO TKE YOU DOWN OR YOUR GOVERNMENT MEMBERS ANYMORE. NO ONE KNOWS WHY SO MAY ARE DYING.OH TELL ME WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE.
I think that there is a lack of accountability among certian
officials in Trinidad. And this situation is reflected in the
in widespread corruption and general lawlessnes in the country.
Example: I paid a visit to T&T in July 2008 and passing through
one of the side-streets of the San Juan market with some friends we bounced upon a huge mound of rotting, stinking garbage.
Obviouly the filthly scene was there for days. Maybe still is.
We wondered what agency was responsibe for the cleanup. And who
who was in charge of the agency. When such flagrant disregad for
the public health is shown it only adds to general malaise
affecting the country, something that criminal elements see as lack of governmental authority.
of govermental authority,\.