By Amin Kef Sesay
Just one of those interesting facts of life this commentator came across the other day whilst browsing on the internet. The Netherlands’ crime rate is so low that 23 prisons have been closed since 2004 because there aren’t enough offenders to occupy them.
Whereas, prison population in Sierra Leone has grown so exponentially over the past two decades since the war ended that the main correctional center in Freetown that was built to house less than 400 inmates now houses almost 2, 000.
The cause of increased crime in the country is not hard to find. Sierra Leone continues to grapple with poverty, rising inflation, and high unemployment rates especially among the youth, who possess limited job prospects. Reasonably, more than 50% of Sierra Leoneans live below the national poverty line, with most making less than $2 per day. Economic desperation therefore has fuelled increases in crime.
Reducing the crime rate in the country depends on the workings of an effective criminal justice system which comprises of a series of Government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other crimes and moral support for victims.
The primary institutions of the criminal justice system are the Police, Prosecution and Defense Lawyers, the courts and prisons. An effective justice system protects the rights of all citizens against infringement of the law by others, including powerful parties and Governments.
In a democracy, individual judges and the justice system as a whole should be impartial and independent of all external pressures. In which regard, the so-called “Force for Good” seeks to improve its response to escalating crime but it remains hindered by the lack of resources.
However, the lack of well-paid, properly trained officers with established ethical, moral and professional attitudes towards their work of preventing, detecting and prosecuting crime comes under heavy censure from the public the Force serves.
At the Police Stations, paying for paper and pen to have reports taken; paying for transport to invite suspects all go a long way to compromise the impartial dispensation of justice. Police response to reports of suspected crime from the public is often slow and unreliable. It is not an uncommon practice for victims of crime to pay for or provide transportation for Police Officers to accompany them to the local station in order to file a report.
What many people advocate for is increased partnership between crime infested communities and the Police. Under Community Policing, preventing crime means working together with communities, learning about their problems and designing unique solutions to those problems.
Unlike previous policies, what sociologists recommend is a more integrated and developmental approach to prevention that attempts to confront the underlying causes of crime and violence. Traditional approaches to safety and security use ‘tough on crime’ tactics that make little to no impact on safety because they fail to address the underlying causes of crime and violence.
Recognising the limitations of these traditional approaches should prompt policy-makers to look more broadly at the underlying factors influencing crime and violence in our societies. Several priority areas are pointed at: Strengthening the entire criminal justice system, Professionalising the police service, Strict controls on the use of firearms and defining clearly the rules of engagement, Increasing the rehabilitation of prisoners and reducing recidivism as well as Increasing community participation in crime prevention and detection
The aim is to establish a framework for an accountable, professional, competent, and highly skilled Police service that adheres to human rights principles. In this regard, traditional approaches of ‘declaring a war on crime’ and having ‘zero tolerance’ for persons in conflict with the law, often ignore human rights, do not deter crime, and most importantly, do not make people feel ‘safe’.
Victims must be encouraged to report incidents of crime to the Police, and obstacles that interfere with a person’s access to critical law enforcement services need to be eradicated in order to effectively curb future incidents of crime and violence from occurring. Furthermore, building an active citizenry is an essential part of creating long-term sustainable delivery of Police services in communities.
