Crime 4

The Anguilla Situation. We are looking at the World Bank report “Crime, Violence and Development: Trends, Costs and Policy Options in the Caribbean” published on 3 May. It is essential reading for any concerned Anguillian. You can get it by clicking here.

The report helps us to understand that we cannot rely on the criminal justice system to reduce crime in Anguilla. Organised crime, drug and firearms trafficking, illicit gambling, prostitution, are generally impervious to prevention initiatives. Influential businessmen are investors in these illegal activities. Political leaders actively support and protect gang leaders and major criminals. Illegal fighting dogs and cockerels are openly, if illegally, imported into and exported out of Anguilla. Foreign girls destined for the sex industry are brought in and out of the island shielded by corrupt immigration officials. The police know about these activities, but turn their eyes aside. They brazenly claim they do not have a report of such criminal activity.

As with our neighbours, we have to invest in crime prevention. We have to use alternative approaches such as integrated citizen security programmes. That means effective neighbourhood watches. We have to learn how to improve crime prevention through environmental design. That means installing burglar bars and alarms. We need a public health approach that focuses on risk factors for violent behaviours. That means facing up to and dealing with juvenile delinquency by education and anger management courses conducted by trained professionals.

Is there anyone out there developing management information systems for the improvement of our criminal justice system? Is there anyone tracking the performance of the justice system? Who is monitoring any reform programme? Who in government is working to ensure increased accountability of the police and the justice system to our citizens? Secret reports to the Governor do not count.

Crime 2

The Impact of Crime. We are looking at a recently published World Bank report on the impact of crime in the West Indies. It is titled “Crime, Violence and Development: Trends, Costs and Policy Options in the Caribbean”. It was published on-line on 3 March. It can be read or downloaded by clicking here.

This report is very important for us in Anguilla. It provides guidance for those who care and have control. The Governor should not just be reading it. He should be taking it to bed with him in the evenings. He should be giving the Commissioner of Police tests on its contents at every meeting. He should be demanding of Ministers to know what their response is to its recommendations. The report is deadly accurate where Anguilla is concerned.

The report reminds us that our West Indian countries are transit points for cocaine. No doubt, there needs to be strategies outside the region. Demand for addictive drugs in consumer countries has to be reduced if we are to get any relief. There also has to be improved interdiction in our islands. Take the case of Anguilla. Our economy is fueled by cocaine. We have a cocaine-based economy. The first thing that up to fifty percent of all tourists do when they finish checking in is to go to the head barman or concierge and enquire where they can get cocaine. You don’t believe me? Ask any hotel barman for yourself. Where the demand is so high, the supply will inevitably follow. Any person in the industry who tells you otherwise is either a user or a supplier, or just naive.

Gun ownership is an outgrowth of the drug trade. We need a better registration system, as well as better interdiction in ports.

More importantly, the report recommends that policies should focus on providing meaningful alternatives for youth. That does not mean building expensive community centers. It means parents spending more quality time with their children. It means our society contributing more resources for youth organisations and activities. It means government providing better education on social issues for our children. No measure to eradicate political corruption would be more useful and less expensive than putting resources into developing ethics and good governance courses in our schools for the very young. That means in primary schools as well as in secondary ones.

Does no one in Anguilla care?

Recent Issues

Recent Interesting Issues on Which Correspondence Has Been Received:

(a) “Cocaine Distribution”. Correspondents are invited to send photos of the crack houses operating in each village. Photographs of the dealers outside our night spots equally welcome. Subject to confirmation, I shall consider posting them here. I have no obligation to inform the police. They already know who and where they are. They simply do nothing about them. Only the small boys are picked up.

(b) “Ministerial Conflicts of Interest”. One correspondent writes: “My first issue would be conflicts of interest. Step number 1 in this connection, in my view, would be to get recognition from Government that the appearance of corruption cannot begin to be eradicated so long as government ministers and officials hold controlling positions in the banks and utilities. How to deal with that problem - e.g. whether the British system of blind trusts provides anything approaching a satisfactory solution - would be the next and very difficult step. But it seems to me that some recognition that the apparent absence of any concern whatever over conflicts of interest should at least be reflected upon would be a move in the right direction.”

(c) “Corruption”. Transparency International is an organization devoted to promoting good governance world wide. Their website is a mine of useful information. Their Americas page indicates that, as regards the Commonwealth Caribbean Countries, they deal only with the independent ones. The only CCC with a national chapter of TI is Trinidad and Tobago. I subscribe to their newsletter, and am often amazed at the ground covered by their intrepid secretary, Boyd Reid. They don’t appear to have a website. Several other Caribbean States were analysed in the latest Global Corruption Report for the year 2006. You can download it here. One correspondent [see the comment at article No 1] asked where we would rank Anguilla in terms of the Transparency International standard. I am not sure of the answer. We British Overseas Territories deserve to be studied as well as the independent ones. Perhaps you would like to respond to the question anyway.

(d) “Public Involvement”. One correspondent quite correctly writes, “Did you ever consider the thought: "Maybe I REALLY don't want to know"????” Another good friend writes thoughtfully but accurately, “It has become painfully obvious that your Garden is not providing enough stimulation; may I suggest sport drinking. Any continuation of this project will certainly guarantee that you never be elected for public office.”

(e) “Security Issues”. My security guru instructs me to remind you: “When you post documents that you are leaking, do not use your work computer. Delete the email, and empty your delete box.” Exercise all caution. Do not get caught.

Recent Issues

Recent Interesting Issues on Which Correspondence Has Been Received:

1. “Cocaine Imports”. Which Anguillian businessmen are the principal financiers? Photographs welcome, particularly if receiving or delivering a package.

2. “Cocaine Distribution”. Where are the major outlets? If they are so well known, why have they not been closed down? Photographs welcome.

3. “Dog Fighting”. Where are the most popular pits where dogs fight to the death? How is protection provided for the participants? Who arranges training? Is the ante still US$5,000.00 to put your dog in? Photographs would be appreciated. They will add a little colour.

4. “Prostitution”. Which are the houses that permit school girls to bring businessmen for paid sex? Which ones import girls from overseas? What keeps them from being closed down? Who controls immigration of the girls? There is only rumour, no evidence.

5. “Human Trafficking”. Is Anguilla Involved in Human Trafficking at this time, as one correspondent suggests? One way to get at an answer is to study an official definition of the term. We can start by looking at the following page taken from the website of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

“From Himalayan villages to Eastern European cities, people - especially women and girls - are attracted by the prospect of a well-paid job as a domestic servant, waitress or factory worker. Traffickers recruit victims through fake advertisements, mail-order bride catalogues and casual acquaintances.

Upon arrival at their destination, victims are placed in conditions controlled by traffickers while they are exploited to earn illicit revenues. Many are physically confined, their travel or identity documents are taken away and they or their families are threatened if they do not cooperate. Women and girls forced to work as prostitutes are blackmailed by the threat that traffickers will tell their families. Trafficked children are dependent on their traffickers for food, shelter and other basic necessities. Traffickers also play on victims' fears that authorities in a strange country will prosecute or deport them if they ask for help.

Trafficking in human beings is a global issue, but a lack of systematic research means that reliable data on the trafficking of human beings that would allow comparative analyses and the design of countermeasures is scarce. There is a need to strengthen the criminal justice response to trafficking through legislative reform, awareness-raising and training, as well as through national and international cooperation. The support and protection of victims who give evidence is key to prosecuting the ringleaders behind the phenomenon.”

Another useful site is the web page taken from the website of the Administration for Children and Families

Trafficking in persons is to be distinguished from alien smuggling. See the very instructive web page on the website of the US Department of State.

From such study, we can conclude that if any Anguillian official received a financial reward to permit the Far East labour that has recently come to soujourn with us in the West End of the island, a high crime may well have been committed.

6. “How to Cover Your Tracks”. Two different correspondents point out that there are some additional precautions you should consider. They include:

(a) When retiring or resigning from a corrupt employer, photograph all the relevant documents relating to questionable transactions before you leave. It costs nothing, and you never know when you will need them! Make sure you do not get caught. Transfer any tape recordings to digital format, they are easier to store and last longer. Keep a back-up on a thumb drive in a secure location, like a safety deposit at your bank.

(b) “Recent File Lists” tell an employer what documents you have been recently working on.

(c) An employer can often tell when a “USB device” was connected to a computer by looking into the registry using forensic tools.

(d) Windows creates files called “prefetch” which can tell an employer when a programme was launched. This can include disk wiping tools. Tools like this are generally not installed as a matter of course. So, while he cannot ascertain what was deleted, he can know that someone was trying to hide something on the computer.