by Dr Neals J Chitan
Over the past decade, scores of meetings and forums in the Caribbean have led discussions with the aim of categorising crime in the region as a public health issue.
From social change agencies to medical professionals and law enforcement, all have seen the psychosomatic effect of criminal behaviour on individual, family and community health and are ready to proclaim it a public health issue that needs international attention.
However, I want to take this conversation a step further and proclaim crime as a national disaster issue! Being a part of the archipelago spanning the southern and northern Caribbean, our islands are positioned to be the victims of natural disasters, especially tropical storms and hurricanes. As a result, over the recent years, island states collectively have spent millions, if not billions, through their national disaster management agencies in disaster preparedness, building up their infrastructural readiness to prevent and deal with the disastrous impact of hurricanes that come slamming into their shores.
During the hurricane season, we keep our attention glued to TV screens hoping that the meteorological report of the next system coming, will miss us. With deep concerns for the safety of their people, governments send out notices and warnings of designated shelters, supplies and provisions that are ready in case citizens need help and lives are endangered. And so, I can certainly appreciate the money, efforts and planning that go into national disasters like hurricanes, but what about the Homicidal Hurricane in the Caribbean? Will we just sit by, hoping and praying that the eye of this hurricane will turn away from us, or will we strategise, build the social infrastructure, and also spend millions in prevention, intervention and rehabilitation of criminals, which I know from experience is guaranteed to create a safer and more peaceful Caribbean?
You may ask, “are there comparative figures to prove the need for immediate re-prioritising of crime if we hope to mitigate the homicidal wave hitting our region?” Here they are! I tabulated the reported fatalities sustained by the region during the 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season which packed 20 tropical storms and 3 major hurricanes, and the death count stands at 16.
However, during that same year, in the same region the homicidal figures from Haiti in the north to Trinidad & Tobago in the south, the Homicidal Hurricane punched a whopping 7,064 deaths in 2023, with the greater percentage of fatalities being that of young men. Wow! Probably, it’s time that governments need to put a high priority on lifesaving initiatives to plug the social haemorrhaging of the blood of our brothers across the region.
I believe it’s time to categorise crime and violence, especially homicides as a national disaster, giving it the time, effort, money and expertise needed to break the cycle. Too long have Caribbean governments skipped around the issues feeding homicides, hoping that it will go away, while spending millions/billions on attracting cruise ships to their shores, only to get blacklisted as an unsafe destination by the same cruise ship companies.
We probably need to invest in building and equipping social shelters where young men can take refuge to deal with the lack of direction and the psychosocial brokenness that stirs up within the hearts and causes the emotional pain and trauma that produce the hopelessness, anger, gang affiliation and revenge that significantly feed our steep homicidal rate in the region.
As Dr Gabrielle Hosein stated in Tracey McVeigh’s 16 June 2023 article in the UK Guardian, “Violence is so endemic that its reduction and prevention should be treated as a natural emergency.”
And so, as an International Crime Reduction Consultant/Interventionist who has spent over 25 years mitigating the roots of crime, I do not only want to go on record only as a critic, but one who is ready, willing and experienced to answer the call from the people and governments of the region, if they are serious about addressing the issues.
Dr Neals Chitan is an International Social Skill Consultant and Crime Reduction Specialist who holds a PhD in Social and Behavioural Sciences and currently works in Grenada. He is the President/Founder of Motiv-8 For Change International a Toronto-based Social Skill Agency and can be reached from North America at 647-692-6330 and locally 473-416-8377 or at [email protected]
Dr Chitan, we are ready to work with you! it is time to get to WORK !!!
The security of our country is disappearing at an alarming rate, so we need urgent solutions – stop denying!
Some of the names given to villages, in recent times, are indication of negative influences.
Base on our recent history, all guns should be eradicated in Grenada, Carricou and Petite Martinique.
We need to be objective and productive, to complete regionally and internationally and develop our country peacefully, so all can be prosperous, feel safe and secure – generations after generations.
My dear brother, you are a Beacon of Hope that God is using to change and empower human lives. I Pray by his Grace and Mercies for your guidance and protection that wherever you go and do his will., this Blessings follow you in every way possible. Remember your strength and courage comes from the Lord. My dear brother Heaven will be your prize in the end. There will be many Stars in your Crown..
Sir, Dr.Neals J. Chitan:
Thank you Sir,for your Service. I HOPE and PRAY that the powers that be will Hearken to your Call and engage on the subject Matter.
Rest assured,Sir, that I stand Ready and Willing to join you in this Cause and Initiative, to the extent that I am able.
Until then – be well, stay strong and. Ficused; and to God be the Glory.
Rod.
Appreciate it my friend and brother!! All hands on deck!