THE EDITOR: The Prime Minister would have us believe that crime is a public health crisis when in reality what we have is a government in crisis. As I pen this letter, regional leaders and their teams assemble at the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain to discuss crime in the region, with one of the end goals being to design a regional approach to deal with the problem.

The irony is that host TT is currently under siege with unprecedented murders, home invasions and other serious crimes, while continuously trending downwards with regard to arrests and convictions.

The Prime Minister continues to show faith in the battered Fitzgerald Hinds as Minister of National Security while public pressure continues to mount for his termination. PM Rowley continues to stick his head in the sand while Trinidad burns.

I am generally an advocate for "not politicising crime" but the level of ignorance and arrogance exhibited by the Prime Minister has even worn me down. Hinds recently publicly opined, 'A minister of Government does not generate or create a crime plan. That is a matter for the police commissioner, the Defence Force that supports the police.'

We can debate that on another day but at the very least the minister's support of the police service and Defence Force must be substantial, his public demeanour and statements ought to provide some level of hope to the citizenry and motivation to the protective services. The deficit in this regard is colossal.

It is one thing to feel hopeless, helpless and hapless but I am a firm believer in the adage that 'God helps those who help themselves.' If the Government is unable to provide suitable solutions then we must employ those who can. If Rowley refuses to fire Hinds, then we must not be as foolish. We must fire him instead.

There are several short-term initiatives that can be implemented to return a level of sanity to the country. Namely, the return of the Community Comfort Patrol, the reinstitution and increase of police/army joint patrols, recruiting exercises for the TTPS, additional funding for the procurement of police vehicles and equipment, increased border patrols by the Coast Guard with possible Caricom collaboration, implementation of aerial surveillance of our borders to cover larger surface areas, and even the possibility of curfews/restricted movement in hot spots and at-risk areas.

In the medium to long term, ideas such as Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar's suggestion of adding new criminal offences to directly deal with home invasions, stiffer penalties and legislative amendments, additional resources and staffing for the Office of the DPP to increase prosecutorial efficiency, increased remuneration packages at the Office of the DPP to attract the brightest and the best, additional staffing and resources at the judiciary to hear criminal matters expeditiously, and the implementation of a firearms authority to deal with the issuing of legal firearms to worthy candidates needs to be implemented.<