Target bigwigs, bring crime lords to justice – Stair

HANOVER, WHICH, for many years, had the enviable distinction of being the nation’s safest parish, has lost its innocence in recent years with the emergence of deadly criminal gangs.

Custos Dr David Stair, however, does not see the state of emergency (SOE) as the panacea to the parish’s ills.

“I really do not think states of emergency are going to solve our problems.

They had it in St James, and you see what happened as soon as it ended. It really does not solve our problems,” he told The Gleaner.

“We need to get to the root of the problem. I think we need to ramp up our intelligence gathering and target individuals and deal with it,” Stair added.

Among the strategies he said are necessary for long-term success in the crime fight is a concerted effort to rid the island of illegal weapons and the bigwigs behind the illicit trade brought to justice.

“We need to stop the flow of guns coming into the island because as long as they are available, the violence will continue. There must be some major players bringing the guns into the island because the average man does not have the resources to do that, so they need to target those and cut off the supply chain,” Stair added.

More public education on dispute resolution and access to mediators to settle squabbles before they escalate could also help, the custos said.

“We also need to make people understand that there are different ways of resolving their problems.”