A local media report in the Cayman Islands last year described a failing prison system that has seen 150% overcrowding at HMP Northward and a 80% recidivism rate among convicted persons after release.
Every afternoon, incarceration trains throughout the Caribbean leave the law courts to go to the nearest prison in what has become a rite of passage for many young black men born into desperation. For the most part they are not from prosperity and are not on the plane to join the status quo of division and gated communities with backyard pizza ovens. For the most part they are not white collar criminals who mishandled the money of the super rich in illusory developments.
They are unlikely to find themselves on the Register of Interests unless luck and a good relationship intercedes. The badge of honour for the elite.
Early release, increased penalties, more laws, swollen police budgets, overpaid portfolio leaders have all had zero effect on the crime pandemic that is destroying the Cayman Islands and the rest of the Caribbean.
As political leadership pursues economic objectives or international regulatory approval the fabric of society is unraveling amid pleas from a besieged business community.They have been told by the police to become prize fighters, defend yourself at all times.
The business community should demand a comprehensive response to the attack on their livelihood. Bread and butter politics not supplication for tourism, international demands or an offshore industry obsession that pays the current bills but does not provide a future survival. Bread can only be found at the supermarket not in government offices. Where will workers eat at a reasonable price if lunch time meals from the small business owners disappear.
Caribbean incarceration rates per 100,000 blow a conch warning:
Anguilla 240
Antigua 400
Bahamas 336
Barbados 240
British Virgin Islands 368
Cayman Islands 304
Cuba 794
Dominica 356
Grenada 324
Jamaica 125
St.Vincent 361
Trinidad 276
These numbers have some surprises,especially Jamaica, but the bigger revelation is that many small island tourist destinations and safe havens for foreign capital are not so safe anymore.
While Nero fiddles Rome burns?
The ages old concept of deterrence, retribution and rehabilitation have not worked. The people of the Caribbean do not want to be police,prosecutors or warders or criminologists. They want peace and security from politicians who consistently fail to provide this basic right.
The people are not worried about the prisoners in the prison.They are worried about what is happening to those released outside.
A man’s home or business is his castle.
Closely bound and blood relative rich small island communities are reluctant to pursue the CECOT model of El Salvador especially given the human rights restraints of Europe.
If people are not allowed to sit at the table they will complain about the food in more ways than one.
Perhaps the way of the guerrilla is best, especially in a small society.
One by one, house by house, street by street.
Notes
https://www.prisonstudies.org/map/caribbean
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate
Peter Polack is a former criminal lawyer in the Cayman Islands for several decade. His books are The Last Hot Battle of the Cold War: South Africa vs. Cuba in the Angolan Civil War (2013), Jamaica, The Land of Film (2017) and Guerrilla Warfare: Kings of Revolution (2019). He was a contributor to Encyclopedia of Warfare (2013). His latest book is a compendium of Russian espionage activities with almost five hundred Soviet spies expelled from nearly 100 countries worldwide 1940-88. His views in the above release are his own.Caribbean Incarceration Rates – The Endless Train
