THE ROOT OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY

It was more than a decade ago that violent crime started to force
citizens of this Federation to take notice of its presence.

At one stage, it appeared as though the phenomenon, at least as far
as St. Kitts/Nevis was concerned, had consumed the majority of the
people in the country. The frequency in which people were being
robbed, beaten and even killed was alarming. Further, the situation
was so alien to the citizens of this country that many were not even
sure how to react to it.

Many pulled in their windows and doors and became like prisoners in
their homes. They did not want to find themselves in a position
whereby they might have seen a crime committed or someone might have
suspected that they saw the act. Either way, the whole thing had
become very serious and maybe even worse as the authorities did not
seem to have any clue as to how to deal with the problem.

Following the intervention of United States law enforcement agencies,
certain key figures in the activities were removed from the country
and things seemed to have quietened down a bit. Since then, however,
violent crime has again risen in a serious way and there have been
some 35 murders in two years. Experts said that based on the size of
the country, the number of murders is exceedingly high and someone
has to move in a hurry to correct the problem.

It must be that before attempts are made to find the solution, the
genesis of the problem must be found and then a plan of action
created to counter it.

We know that illegal drugs would have played a significant role in
the early life of the increased criminal activity but is it still the
problem? Some believe this is the obvious answer but some others will
suggest that the dominance of drug lords in the country is over and
that it is something completely new that is causing the recent
upsurge in violent crime.

They believe a large part of it has to do with the fact that many of
the young men of this country do not appear to be too keen on
bettering themselves through education and it is indeed fair to say
that the girls have been making greater strides in this area than
their counterparts. Now that many of the boys have been finding
themselves short on alternatives to make a significant livelihood,
they have turned to crime in order to satisfy their various wants.

It is also believed that some are being "carried away" with a "thug"
attitude they have seen a lot of in recent times via television and
one that is also glorified in several pieces of rap and dancehall music.

One can agree that in all of this, there is room for the growth of a
drug culture but, this apparently comes after a regular period of
delinquent behaviour at an early stage in life. This is telling us
that there is something going woefully wrong when it comes to the
development of our children, especially our males. Therefore, some
special effort must now be made to make sure that the young people of
this country go through their education paces and give themselves a
real opportunity to be successful and not have to turn to a life of
crime in order to get what it is they believe will make their lives
more comfortable.

They must learn that nothing in life comes easy and that they must
work hard for what they want in life. They must also learn that they
should have respect for other people's property and even more, have a
deep respect for the life of others.

It does appear that although illegal drugs continue to play a part in
violent crime in this country, it might be just a small one because
the absence of the ability to resolve conflicts peacefully may be
more of a feature in violent crimes.