Every passing day, our streets -especially in urban areas – are becoming increasingly unsafe. I am not surprised at all that one of the country’s leading banks has decided to secure its Khama Crescent branch with a security fence. While the said barrier soils the aesthetics of a part of the Government Enclave because it now looks like a detention centre and not a bank, one nonetheless understands the security imperatives which made them do it.
It is also the case that on a net basis, low-income and poor households stand to lose the most from a surge in crime. In urban areas, low-income households and the poor invariably reside in precincts that are in relative terms, less monitored by law enforcement agents compared to other areas. The low-income households are the ones predominately at the mercy of phone and bag snatchers when they disembark from public transport, especially after dark. To add salt to injury, on average, these criminals also live in low-income areas.
It is therefore time to invest in our capacity to fight the ongoing crime surge without necessarily curtailing our civil liberties. I am therefore not asking for a pervasive and intrusive Chinese-style surveillance system. As such, we do not have to violate the privacy of citizens in the process.
In calling for the boosting of the nation’s capacity to fight crime, I do not at the same time, wish to lose sight of the fact that the homeowner is the first line of defence against anyone who breaks into his or her house. This is simply because there is an inevitable time lag between a thief breaking into your house and getting help from law enforcement. More often than not, it takes hours before you get assisted if your house is not monitored by a private security company and you just rely on the police. At the end of the day, however, the fight against criminals starts with the homeowner whose house is under attack, marshalling whatever tools are at his disposal to protect the life and privacy of his family.
One of the key factors which will determine our ability to become a high-income economy is maintaining the rule of law. Consequently, fighting crime, in turn, becomes an important element of maintaining the rule of law. This means that if we fail to maintain the rule of law and allow criminals to take over our streets, snatch people’s phones and blow up ATM machines, we make it difficult for ourselves to become the much-desired income economy, One thing that strikes you in many advanced economies compared to our situation, is the high level of safety that people enjoy. This allows them to pursue economic opportunities without the constant worry that they are going to be robbed.
I know that much is made – and rightfully so – of crime chasing away foreign investors. And while that is true we should not forget the wider impact that crime has on ordinary people going on about their lives to seek economic opportunities to fend for their families.
So in view of the rising crime, we should see an even more visible police force. It is well and good to have roadblocks but concerted patrols of streets by the police to instill a sense of safety among ordinary people as it was in the past are required. These patrols should be a regular feature of police work and not something that they do only during the Christmas season.
The justice system also needs to be reviewed to keep people who keep doing crimes repeatedly in jail for some time. This, therefore, calls for a review of bail conditions which make it easy for people to keep getting away with crime. It is equally important to dispense with the cases within a reasonable time so that those who are accused of crimes they did not commit, also receive justice.
