Crime…again
I‘m telling you this crime situation has turned into a comedy of errors. First (If we can call it first) 388 people were murdered last year. Next Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj and Jack Warner get together to hire a team of private security guards to protect the people of Macaulay village who have been plagued by criminals. Then the people who came out in such hoards to denounce the “vigilantism” has the rest of us asking, do these people have any idea what vigilantism actually is?
Speaking for myself, I see nothing wrong with the measures undertaken my Warner and Maharaj. If the people of Macaulay village are under siege then by all means they are to have security. I’m jealous of them as I assume all other non-gated communities around Trinbago are. Yet, we do understand that private security officers don’t have all the same powers a police officer has. They don’t have the power to kick a handcuffed suspect and they probably can’t laugh at an abused husband - I mean these guys could get fired for something like that. Other than that they are more or less just like our regular cops but with vehicles.
But vigilantism? Brigid Anisette George and her cohorts seem intent on disagreeing for the the sake of disagreeing. Saving face is what we used to call it but I’m not sure how much face you can save after presiding over a record murder rate. However while the critics were yet in mid sentence, the star of the show, the Prime Minister himself Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning spits in their faces and goes and hires private security to replace most of the Special Branch officers that used to guard him. What a move!
Now I supported commissioner Trevor Paul against people who were criticizing him for going to an Old Year Night fete with his wife. My position was this: his going to a Old Year’s Night fete wasn’t going affect the crime situation for better or for worse. If he wants to go, then let him go. Plus the man has free time to use as he chooses. Is he not allowed to have a social life because of the crime situation? It just isn’t an issue with me. But then with a master stroke, Commissioner Paul launches Operation “No Sports”. Finally deciding he’d had enough with all those officer/athletes, Commissioner Paul decides that he’s going to reel in the entire offending lot of them. Look at them, with their time management skills, fit bodies, alert minds, leadership and teamwork skills and goal setting abilities - a pretty revolting group if you ask me. No wonder the police commissioner was sick of them; they were dragging the Police Service of Trinidad and Tobago into good repute. He had to reel them in. Athlete/officers operate as a rogue group within the TTPS. Sooner or later they are bound to infect the whole lot. Sooner or later their endorphin highs were going to get someone saved out there. Commissioner Paul wasn’t going to let that happen - not on his watch. I say keep the TTPS pure.
Lastly, did I hear last night on the news that Trevor Paul said that he was willing to work with the private security guards that Ramesh and Jack hired? This, even after he called the move to hire private security inept? Hmmm. Sounds like foot-in-mouth to me.
16 Responses to “Crime…again”
By sinistra on Jan 22, 2008 | Reply
Mani, welcome back. A quick programming note - you need to update your template. I signed up for email updates and instead of your posts, I’ve received a stream of emails from www.blogohblog.com.
By Mani on Jan 22, 2008 | Reply
Hi Sinistra. THANKS! I had no idea. I’m trying to fix it now.
By Chennette on Jan 22, 2008 | Reply
Oooh, didn’t realise your feed changed. Just by pure chance, and missing your posts I checked the blog today. Updated - the link on the right side of the page under Subscribe is correct, but the RSS at the top is for blogohblog.
By Shivonne on Jan 22, 2008 | Reply
Finally!
bwahaha at endorphin highs getting someone saved
By ed on Jan 22, 2008 | Reply
Average folks get private security = vigilantism
Rich folks get the same = Fairways…
Is that about right?
By jill on Jan 22, 2008 | Reply
mani back with a vengeance. i wish others would think about private security for the rest of the ungated communities!
athletes are dangerous - or maybe mr paul feels they are going to kidnap him in the night?
personally, if trinidadians decided to take law into their own hands in a major way, those thieves and other vagabonds would be sorry!
By Mani on Jan 23, 2008 | Reply
@Chenette, it’s my fault really. I should have notified everyone before I changed the feed. I always manage to make that mistakes. But the reason you weren’t getting my feed was that I wasn’t posting…I only changed the feed on the day you checked. I think I got all the feeds on the page changed so let me know if I missed any.
@Shivonne, thanks! Yeah finally, gyul.
@Ed, that’s about right….man, those fairways
@Jill, I wish Warner had more money to go around, we might be in a better position today.
By Bigger Trini on Jan 23, 2008 | Reply
Yes, bring on the ‘private’ security like how in Haiti the business people have private security (not vigilantes) to ‘deal’ with poor people.
Give them guns so they can ‘deal’ with people the communities don’t like. Nice eh? Imagine what could have happened that time the little black boys come and shoot an Indian down central.
The ‘private’ security would have dealt with dem.
Under the watch of Devant Maharaj, the private security could also keep out the ‘undesirables’ who want to only look for Indian girls.
Mani, you is a boss! Give it to Ramesh and Jack. Those geniuses.
Put that together with Patrick’s mercenaries and you have a nice little Burundi in the making.
Trinidad is nice. Trinidad is a Paradise.
By Mani on Jan 23, 2008 | Reply
Yeah, and what if like this big, massive bomb gets dropped off in Macaulay village and everyone’s like, “Dude, wait till the bomb squad gets here”. And there’s this one security guard who’s like, “Screw that, I’m all over this biatch”. And he like goes and like messes with the bomb and then BOOM! it explodes and like blows up everything and it’s not like a regular bomb you know, it’s like one of those dirty bombs and everyone and their goldfish start glowing and then they send out the national guard for Jack and Ramesh and they get sent to prison forever. I feel you man, I feel you.
It have bomb squad here by the way?
By Chennette on Jan 24, 2008 | Reply
Yes, see how language can be ambiguous. I was really commenting on the fortuitousness of my checking the blog to see if there was anything new, on the very same day you posted
So, it was doubly fortuitous that I noticed the new blog feed on the very day you resumed posting.
By blindy on Jan 26, 2008 | Reply
Oh gorms mani this light grey text is unreadable for us short sighted people.
go back to back please…
By Mani on Jan 26, 2008 | Reply
Ah Chennette, now I get you.
Oh gosh blindy, sorry dey. That’s one of the things on my list to change on this theme. I didn’t realize it was difficult to see or I would have changed it earlier. I’ll change it as soon as I can locate what needs changing.
By boysieringo on Jan 29, 2008 | Reply
Hi Mani don’t like the new site but change takes getting used to. What did you think of Lucky and Yetming’s comments in the Express today? Do you think COP is being forgotten? I think like any good economist Dooks realises that in the height of wine and jam season, it’s better to keep the party’s resources set on internal issues and wait till we get the carnival fever outta we skin to get back to business.
By Ian on Jan 30, 2008 | Reply
Mani. I’ve been reading you since you were in UWI (r u still there?) and I laughed so hard at your “Boy crossing road post” but anyway. Keep up the posts its VERY enlightening.
To Boysieringo: You hit the nail on the head. Is only Warner who causing confusion with his “COP is we friends” statement with Gary Griffith. . .And Yetming. . . let him go back! We will be better off without him in that case!
By Twrichgirl on Feb 3, 2008 | Reply
say what you want
mr manning is gods choosen one and t&t will prevail under his stewardhip like a candle in the wind
manicou you cannot should not and must not trust that snake in the sun ramesh
By Jill on Feb 3, 2008 | Reply
umm, i don’t know what to say about the post above.. except god’s chosen one wouldn’t repair his own damn residence before paying attention to the needs of those he is responsible for..
and i like what boysieringo said as well… it’d be sad to see dooks just fade out, so i am hoping to he is just working behind the scenes, but still trying to reach the goals he set out while he was running.