People including Member of Parliament (MP) Viren Kotai (DP) are understandably worried about crime (see related story), following a string of armed robberies in St. Maarten. After all, it’s not just about security for residents but visitors who provide the population’s livelihood too.
A perceived lack of safety is one thing that can quickly give any destination a bad reputation. Whatever negative impact on the tourism economy would hurt everyone.
Many tend to blame law enforcement, but it’s important to note that the culprits are often caught. Arrests have been made in the latest two incidents as well as others that occurred earlier.
The truth is that it has become increasingly hard to get away with these types of crimes. There are now surveillance cameras practically everywhere, both at businesses and in public spaces.
Sooner or later the reality will sink in that the risk of ending up behind bars is simply too great. Once they are serving time these delinquents have plenty of opportunity to discuss this among themselves.
They can be considered a useful example of what not to do. The number of detentions clearly indicate that theirs was a losing proposition to begin with.
Of course, suspects must be convicted in court. In that sense there is legitimate concern because 300 years of imposed sentences have yet to be executed due to lack of cell space.
The latter is not the message one wants to send, but inevitable at this moment, with construction of a new, bigger prison reportedly to start soon. People can also rest assured that persons who commit violent offences usually aren’t among those awaiting incarceration at least for very long.
Contrary to what some claim, police have been doing their job as may also be seen from their targetted actions directed at scooters, often used in such potentially detrimental crimes. The bad guys are not necessarily winning.
