THE OLD TRICKS OF LAURIE LEWIS
July 7, 2015 | By KNews | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom, Source
The new government in Guyana has been greeted with an unholy baptism of criminality. Without any doubt, there has been an unnerving and at times, frightening increase in crime since the new government took office.
Right now the real fear in Guyana is not Venezuela, as ominous as that threat is. The real fear is about those little boys with guns in their waists, waiting to pounce of citizens in their homes and after they leave the banks. These boys are driving fear into the hearts of Guyanese.
The situation has reached the stage where it seems as if these criminals are almost baiting the authorities. The actions of the criminals are suggesting that if there is one area in which there will be no change, it is with crime.
The criminals are on the loose and the police are going to have their work cut out to deal with these elements which over the past two months, have been, with impunity, pulverizing the Guyanese people.
The public has a right to demand better security. That security must, however, at the minimum, require a complete metamorphosis in the way the police operate. Things cannot work in the same way they used to.
But as our editor pointed out recently, certain habits die hard. One of the habits of the police when faced with a violent crime is to blame the victim.
So certain imputations are dropped to suggest that the person killed was involved in certain nefarious activities. In other words, instead of aiming for justice for the victims, the police criminalize the victims.
People who worked hard for their living are killed and instead of justice their reputations are criminalized simply because the police force is unable to solve the crimes.
This is an old trick that the police learnt from Laurie Lewis, a former, now deceased, Commissioner of Police. Laurie Lewis should have been a magician. He was the master of the art of illusion. When businessman Bhim Singh was murdered, it was Laurie Lewis who suggested that the victim was involved in underhand activities.
In other words what Laurie Lewis was suggesting was that Bhim Singh was a victim of his own financial dealings and therefore his death did not represent a threat to the wider society. This sort of argument also suggests that the victims get what they deserve and therefore the public needs not worry at all.
This is an old trick resurrected by Laurie Lewis. He handed it down to the Guyana Police Force and it is still employed today. When someone dies and the police know that they are not likely to be able to solve the crime, they often invoke the idea that the person had a shady past.
The subliminal suggestion is therefore that the victim got what was coming and therefore is undeserving of public sympathy or concern. This is why there are so many unsolved cases in Guyana.
If the police know that someone was involved in underhand activities and they did not take action to charge this person then they are incompetent.
They should not be waiting until the person dies to report their suspicions.
They should have been taking action. But regardless of what underhand activities a person is involved in, the police have a duty to solve the crime.
Too many times persons are shot and killed and the police are not bringing the killers to justice.
The second trick used by the police happens just after the crime. The police announce that they have held some suspects who are helping them in their investigations. The public is left with the impression that the police are swift in their investigations and have held the killers.
This is just a ploy by the police. They hold a few neighbours and other known characters and deem them persons of interest. The public outrage is allowed to simmer. It is a policy of appeasement. This is another of the old tricks that the police inherited from Laurie Lewis.
Unknown to the public is that a few days after these suspects are released for lack of incriminating evidence and the case joins the long list of cold cases.
Just a few weeks ago we learnt that the police were making headway in the case involving the gunning down of a woman. We were told that persons were arrested and that the case was about to be cracked. This took the heat off the police for not solving crimes.
But it seems as if the police have now fallen through that crack because no charges have been leveled as a result of the new developments.
Another old trick employed by Laurie Lewis. Make the public believe that there is a breakthrough and in so doing take the heat and attention off the Guyana Police Force.
It is time for change. It is time for a new approach to crime. If this new approach has to begin by instilling discipline in our country by asking bars and clubs to stop selling drinks and turn off their music at 2 a.m., then so be it.
But let it also bring a new discipline into the Guyana Police Force by refusing to accept the old tricks that they were taught by the master of illusion.
