THE Citizen Security Programme is a security plan started in 2007 with a US$22M fund. It seeks to identify, prevent and counteract risk factors; promote protective factors in communities, strengthen the Home Ministry and GPF; implement crime prevention and crime fighting programmes at all levels. High sounding goals but how effective have they been? To what extent has any of these objectives impacted on crime since 2007? What factors need to be identified that is not already known and could have been addressed prior to CSP?

Daily crime stories show poor public judgment in the holding and transporting of large sums of money, overseas visitors targeted, security guards either easily overcome through poor training, placement, incompetence or collusion, tardy or poor responses from GPF, questionable court decisions and public apathy have all played significant roles in the crime scene. It is not the plans but their implementation, not some successes but overall success that matters. Criminals seem to make do with what is available to them. In the meantime, we talk, plan and wait for foreign expertise, technology, more training and ideas to deal with those less trained, armed and more motivated than our existing security forces.