Yet again, another crime has taken place that evokes disbelief and revulsion: a dismembered and partially-burnt body is found in a dumpster in one of our neighbourhoods. It is difficult to make sense of this level of atrocity and the seemingly widening spread of killings in the nation.

But there is also a kind of randomness about the way crime is being committed that leaves no one safe. One week earlier, in the same area, a young female passenger in a taxi was killed by gunshots apparently intended for the driver of the vehicle. The taking of someone’s life is like another job for a growing band of criminals.

How meaningless are figures that tell us things like there were 10 less homicides this year than last year or that the reported cases of sexual offences are down by 15 per cent, or some such figure! Whether we like to admit it or not there is a burgeoning crime trade which our law enforcement agencies seem powerless to control.

Much surely still needs to be done so the police service is ready to respond adequately to criminal activity, but the service must also be made free of corrupt influences that can only exacerbate the country’s crime woes.

Crime prevention, though, is everybody’s business and the public must play its part in changing the climate of crime that now exists. What is required is nothing short of a real transformation of our society.

The Assistant Police Commissioner in charge of anti-crime operations Gilbert Reyes, noting the rise of gang violence in St Joseph, Tunapuna and Arima, was reported in the Guardian last week to be as nonplussed as everyone else about the spate of crime in these areas. “It is difficult to tell you the reasons behind the homicides, but it seems that the killings stem from the notion of disrespect,” he said.

And here ACP Reyes may not only have been speaking about the respect for life but a flawed notion of respect. He too noted, “Crime-fighting is also the responsibility of the community.”

The question remains: how is the community to be brought to this realisation and how are citizens to be encouraged to take up this responsibility.

‘The Bandit Factory’

Chalkdust’s calypso of a year ago, The Bandit Factory, in which he showed how poor example fed the crime machine, put the matter very plainly before all of us.

It is only when we begin to address, with courage, the fundamental attitudes and issues affecting the major institutions of our society that healing and transformation can take place.

 There are not enough signs that attention is being paid to these areas; that our young parents are receiving the kind of support that they need; that all our teachers are committed as they should be to the task of preparing our children for living in a world in which the common values are inimical to building a strong society; that citizens recognise that each person can influence the society in positive ways.

The Church naturally has a critical role to play in all this – not simply by making this or that statement – but by playing a greater role in formation of our children and young people, by supporting the many young parents in our communities.

This work requires a passion for the task – the attitude of Christ really, who says in today’s Gospel: “I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already!”

Jesus, the man of peace, who is on his way to Jerusalem and his sacrificial death, also warns that following in his footsteps will bring division and suffering – and, therefore, demands courage.