Not politics, but an alarming new level of deviance is responsible for break-ins at schools, retired cop believes

Nuffield Burnette, a former Assistant Commissioner of Police, is advising the Force and, by extension, the Government to utilize a different strategy to capture criminals.

Burnette’s comments were made in relation to the increase in crime and the recent spate of break-ins at schools and other institutions, including churches, and at businesses and private homes.

The retired officer was asked directly whether politics is playing a part in these offences – as is being alleged by Prime Minister Gaston Browne, who has accused the main opposition party of instigating crime.

However, Burnette says that he cannot make this correlation.   

What he considers to be “political,” Burnette says, is the promise of an adequate number of security officers to patrol the Nation’s school plants and leaving that promise unfulfilled.

Burnette says the break-ins and vandalism appear to be the result of a new level of deviance – to which the Government, parents and all stakeholders need to pay closer attention.

If the authorities believe that this matter is political, the former senior officer says, then they should put things in place to address the issue urgently.

Meanwhile, Burnette believes that praedial larceny is another matter in need of attention and proper policing strategies to curb it.