Dear Editor,
Some Bahamians seem to believe that I have too much to say and much too more opine on. That is, of course their ‘right’ and does not affect me, one way or the other. The Lord God Whom I serve, has graciously allowed me a rift of common sense. Having said that mouthful, may I opine as to the real causation of CRIME, with your leave?
No living Lawyer in our wonderful but challenged nation, has more experience than myself at The Criminal Bar, which I garnered when I was privileged to practice law. In fact, I ‘lost’ two cases at The Bar. One involved an Indictment for Homicide and the other (civilly based) involved myself for commingling of a then client’s funds without permission.
The accused whom I represented at his first trial, did not follow my advice. He was accused of repeatedly stabbing another man in his back while that man was fleeing from him. I suggested that he enter a plea of Guilty by reason of temporary insanity. I am certain, based on my gift of the gab, that I would have secured his release after a short stint up at The Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre.
There was, in law, based on the overt facts, other than such a plea. He and his family rejected my advice. Following his conviction, the now former client, engaged a well known Advocate and later a Supreme Court Justice, who launched several appeals straight up to The Judicial Committee of The Privy Council, over in The UK.
The appeal, such as it was, was rejected by a majority of that body and the convict was duly hung by the neck until he died. I say this to say, that CRIMINAL INTENTIONS first originate in one’s head attached to the neck. Once the initial thought comes to one’s mind, he/she has the absolute choice to follow through with that thought or to abandon it. Unfortunately, too many Bahamians are determined to play out that initial thought, regardless of the possible consequences.
Mental illness, of course, plays a larger than life sized influence relative to crime. There are, no doubt, thousands of Bahamians within our homes and the wider society who appear to have serious mental health issues. We tend to label such individuals as CRAZY; mock and scorn them, to our ultimate detriment. In a conversation with the PM last year, he and I both agreed that we need to train more Bahamians to enter the mental health care field.
I would encourage the Hon. Minister of Health & Wellness, Dr. Michael Darville (PLP-Tall Pines) along with the Hon. Minister of Education, et al, Mrs. Glenys Hanna-Martin (PLP-Englerston) to establish an educational and career path for High School Seniors who may be interested in pursuing a medical career with a specialty in mental health issues. They could intern during school breaks at our various institutions, along with a reasonable stipend.
While doing all of the above, I would also urge a joint effort by the collective church and the government of the day to partnership and come up with sustainable programs and holistic projects to arrest the societal and community decline within our nation. No administration is able to place a community center in each constituency. We have more than enough church buildings that are shuttered at night and underutilized even during the day. We, as a people need to take our heads out of the sand, for want of a better expression.
Unless and until we arrive at a definitive and logical reason for the CAUSATION of crime, we will be whistling while walking dead fast in front of the cemetery. There are far too many dead men/women walking our major streets and counting lamp poles or lurking in dense bushes awaiting an opportunity to commit a crime. Again I postulate that unless there be a personal reformation in and to one’s mind, CRIME will plague us until the Second Coming of The Lord. To God then, in all things, be the glory.
Ortland H. Bodie, Jr.
Business Consultant & Talk Show Host
