THE POLICE SAY TECHNOLOGY IS THE ANSWER, MITCHELL SAYS NO
So, the real Commissioner of Police Marvin Dames who by the way is also the Minister thinks that technology is the answer to the crime issue and in particular gunshots in The Bahamas. What a lost soul. The new ShotSpotter technology is the latest gadget being sold to us by American experts and was rolled out at Police Headquarters on 28th March. The deal is that microphones are now being put up around New Providence. They then pick up noises from the air that sound like gunshots. This is then sent to the headquarters in California of the company and they then tell the police a gunshot has been fired. Our grandmother around the corner could tell the police a shot has been fired. If only Mr. Dames can get his men and women to answer the damn phone. That would help. This business of spending money on fancy technologies which we never maintain and which go unfixed for weeks and depend on the uncertain internet platforms in The Bahamas is just a simple out and out waste of money.
The PLP’s Chairman Senator Fred Mitchell spoke to The Nassau Guardian on 29 March 2019:
As the government launched its ShotSpotter program yesterday and highlighted the increasing use of technology in the fight against crime, Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Fred Mitchell said the government needs to focus more on addressing the root social causes of the crime problem.
“While technology can help, the technology does not address the underlying problems,” Mitchell said in an interview with The Nassau Guardian.
“There are deep-seated social issues which drive the crime in this country.
“There is an avalanche of violence everywhere you look, kids grow up surrounded by it.
“Violence is like second nature in our country.
“The lack of effective measures to deal with that will make the technology a nullity.”
Minister of National Security Marvin Dames announced yesterday that the ShotSpotter technology is live throughout New Providence.
Dames is also set to announce the distributor of 200 body cameras for the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) on April 6.
Mitchell, the former MP for Fox Hill, said the government has not asked the PLP to be engaged in the fight against crime in the area since losing the last election, though “all hands” are needed in the effort.
“We are treated as an irrelevance, yet all hands must be on deck to fight crime,” Mitchell said.
“And I still have an active social and political presence there (Fox Hill).
“I told the police that since the change of command last year, I have not heard from the police.
“So, my point is that there [are] still some things more fundamental than technology that are important.
“Our surveys, the PLP surveys, reveal that notwithstanding the boasts of the FNM, nationwide, except Grand Bahama island, crime is the number one issue for Bahamians.
“It is only surpassed in Grand Bahama by the economy.
“So, they have not moved the needle on the crime issue.”