By Dr. Neals J. Chitan

Over the past decade, scores of meetings and forums in the Caribbean have led discussions with the aim of categorizing crime in the region as a public health issue. From social change agencies to medical professionals and law enforcement, all have seen the psychosomatic effect of criminal behavior on individual, family and community health and are ready to proclaim it a public health issue that needs international attention.

However, I want to take this conversation a step further and proclaim crime as a national disaster issue! Being a part of the archipelago spanning the southern and northern Caribbean, our islands are positioned to be the victims of natural disasters, especially tropical storms and hurricanes. As a result, over the recent years, island states collectively have spent millions, if not billions, through their National Disaster Management Agencies (NADMA) in disaster preparedness, building up their infrastructural readiness to prevent and deal with the disastrous impact of hurricanes that come slamming into their shores.

During the hurricane season, we keep our attention glued to TV screens hoping that the meteorological report of the next system coming, will miss us. With deep concerns for the safety of their people, governments send out notices and warnings of designated shelters, supplies and provisions that are ready in case citizens need help and lives are endangered. And so, I can certainly appreciate the money, efforts and planning that go into national disasters like hurricanes, but what about the Homicidal Hurricane in the Caribbean? Will we just sit by, hoping and praying that the eye of this hurricane will turn away from us, or will we like NADMA, strategize, build the social infrastructure, and also spend millions in prevention, intervention and rehabilitation of criminals, which I know from experience is guaranteed to create a safer and more peaceful Caribbean?

You may ask, “are there comparative figures to prove the need for immediate re-prioritizing of crime if we hope to mitigate the homicidal wave hitting our region?” Here they are! I tabulated the reported fatalities sustained by the region during the 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season which packed 20 tropical storms and 3 major hurricanes, and the death count stands at 16.

However, during that same year, in the same region the homicidal figures from Haiti in the north to Trinidad & Tobago in the south, the Homicidal Hurricane punched a whopping 7, 064 deaths in 2023, with the greater percentage of fatalities being that of young men. Wow! Probably, it’s time, like NADMA, that governments need to put a high priority on life-saving initiatives to plug the social hemorrhaging of the blood of our brothers across the region.

I believe it’s time to categorize crime and violence, especially homicides as a national disaster, giving it the time, effort, money and expertise needed to break the cycle. Too long have Caribbean governments skipped around the issues feeding homicides, hoping that it will go away, while spending millions/billions on attracting cruise ship to their shores, only to get black-listed as an unsafe destination by the same cruise ship companies.

Like NADMA, we probably need to invest in building and equipping social shelters where young men can take refuge to deal with the lack of direction and the psychosocial brokenness that stirs up within the hearts and cause the emotional pain and trauma that produce the hopelessness, anger, gang affiliation and revenge that significantly feed our steep homicidal rate in the region.

As Tracey Mc Veigh of the Trinidad Guardian, in her June 16, 2023 article said “Violence is so endemic that its reduction and prevention should be treated as a natural emergency.” And so, as an International Crime Reduction Consultant/Interventionist who has spent over 25 years mitigating the roots of crime, I do not only want to go on record only as a critic, but one who is ready, willing and experienced to answer the call from the people and governments of the region, if they are serious about addressing the issues.

About the Author: Dr Neals Chitan is an International Social Skill Consultant and Crime Reduction Specialist who holds a PhD in Social and Behavioural Sciences and currently works in Grenada. He is the President/Founder of Motiv-8 For Change International a Toronto-based Social Skill Agency and can be reached from North America at 647-692-6330 and locally 473-416-8377 or at nealschitan@motiv-8.org