"Is an eye for an eye. I want those mothers of them men
who kill my son to cry like how I crying." So said Keyzec Monroe, the
grieving mother of 11-year-old Kareem Alphonso, who was murdered by gunmen last
Saturday. The boy's killing does not appear to have been so-called
"collateral damage", but a deliberate execution.
Ms Monroe's rage for revenge is understandable. There are few
parents who, if they had the opportunity, would not kill anyone who harmed
their children — and probably did so in the most painful manner possible. But
this is precisely why people cannot be allowed to take personal revenge for
wrongs done to them. That is a blueprint for barbarism. Ms Monroe's wish for
vengeance underlies the cycle of violence that makes murder a way of life in
the hotspot neighbourhood she lives in. Were she to get her wish, then the
relatives of those men would in turn seek their own revenge.
"I don't want the police to catch them," she told
the Express, "because this justice system is messed up. They could be back
on the streets again and, if not, jail might be a relief for them." In
this statement, too, Ms Monroe identified a root cause of violence — the
failure of the State to protect its citizens.
History shows that homicide rates dropped drastically as
nations were formed and the State gained a monopoly on violence. In the 21st
century, we view Trinidad and Tobago's 30 per 100,000 homicide rate as
barbarously high, and indeed it is compared to the three or less per 100,000 in
developed nations. But, up to 300 years ago, a rate of 100 murders per 100,000
persons was common in European cities and in tribal societies. By having an
arbiter, even an oppressive Leviathan, individuals and groups got a guarantee
that they could survive and thrive without attacking first, without taking
revenge, and by negotiating for peace.
But this is also why violence is most prevalent in areas
where the police are not doing what they are supposed to do. If a resident of
an affluent area calls to report a disturbance or threat, the response of the
police is likely to be quite different than if a http://www.trinidadexpress.com/commentaries/Rage_for_revenge__a_tragic_dead_end-167785935.htmlsimilar complaint came from a
resident of a hotspot.
Certainly, other factors come into play — poverty, gang
rivalries, the drug trade, URP mentality — but if the authorities were
protecting the people in these areas and helping resolve their disputes, then
murder would not be so common an occurrence there.
Such incidents reveal the limits of the
more-vehicles-more-officers crime strategy, for this initiative will not change
the savagery of spirit that lies behind the killing of children.
