Ah jetty collapsin in Plymouth Tobago, an not because ah boat bounce it dong?

Ah high-rankin TTPS officer sayin CAPA, (ah go explain what dat is later), eh able yet tuh provide de poleece wid all needed statistics?

Ah call fuh ah all-woman poleece station in Triniland?

I want tuh say all dem connected. Buh connected tuh what an why?

Well dem is de most recent examples ah tings I see linked tuh ah issue troublin mih of late. As dey most recent, is time ah raise de issue.

Yuh see dis ting . . . dis ting wid . . . wid people, usually females, an den usually schoolgirls, who goin missin wid regularity? An de TTPS raisin de alarm issuin bulletins? Someting very rong when dey turn back up safe actin like nuttin rong an people relax, gorn back tuh dey business, anxiety eased.

Of course dem not de onlyest ones de poleece does announce missin buh dem is de ones ah want tuh carve out because dey could affect how people view all reports ah missin women. All because dese students does go missin voluntarily.

Someting rong someplace.

Is what, too many Trini families in crisis?

Ah not here tuh do no analysis an come up wid why, but it cyar be de same ting every time: Ah parent or family member make ah missin person, (student) report; de poleece issue ah bulletin askin de public tuh keep ah eye out. None ah dat have tuh change. I just focusin orn which student steups an leave home almost fuh spite; someting de vigilant public does find out only in reflection.

So what eef some 15-year old eh get reported missin until after two days ah dem not being at home?— dat right dey eh causin nobody else eyebrow tuh raise? Den when dey turn up dey wasn’t really missin? Was all because dey eh like de rules ah de house? Man eef dat was ah valid reason my behind wid ah be missin still from all dem days I had tuh follow dotish rules.

No Afro? I gorn den.

Mih shirt not tucked een mih pants an de collar up mean I playin Badjohn an two man-rat cyar live in de same hole? Keep yuh hole oui cause is gorn I gorn. Ah go drop by just fuh mih food ok.

Dat wasn’t how life did wuk den an it should still be de way, not so?

Ah sure boys used tuh go missin in dem days like dey does still do now an get find as well. Like dis fella.

Ah sure people did hold dey breath fuh he too, hopin fuh dat best of results. Buh fuh he, returnin home eh solve he issues. Only who was payin close attention tuh de name in dat first story an in ah next one not all dat long afterwards realize was he who came tuh ah tragic end. I wasn’t payin attention dat close buh since ah start I does try tuh keep up.

De task since den should be whoever in dis group ah carve out, boy or girl, dey cyar end up like Curtis Pierre when dey gorn missin.

While it does be good tuh read how ah missin student not missin no more dey safe, it not fair tuh ask de public fuh help, den shut people out from peekin into any bigger picture. Nobody, at least not me, eh want tuh macco some family being dysfunctional. Not when every family dysfunctional in it own way an me eh want nobody maccoin mines. Buh I is ah proponent ah dat bigger picture.

What rong wid focusin orn what tuh do tuh mobilize as many people as it take tuh find ah minor who is part of ah family in need ah help?

It cyar be good when de poleece/citizen partnership start crackin. Ah meanin de partnership in findin missin people.

Public euphoria over knowin ah missin student get found go drop when word leak how de student went missin orn de own, worse, it have ah man involve. Interest in de next missin person go be de price paid.

I doh have answers just ideas. Eef nutten eh gettin done, now is de time tuh start. Ah too modest tuh propose my ideas, but:

Eef in investigatin ah disappearance, de poleece find it have ah seamy component wid some hard-back man involve de TTSP have tuh swing into action.

Let mih first restate ah summarized version ah mih initial  concern an de partial solution so ah not behind de times: Be de missin student ah boy or girl an de advantage-taker ah hard-back man or, de female equivalent, prosecute dey adult baxide. No excuses if dey is family. Do dat each an every time an who does look tuh take advantage might tink twice.

No sleazy component tuh de case? Unless de poleece have resource to spare fuh eef de person decide to repeat dey escapade, get de family serious counselin.

Yeah ah know . . . reality different. Yet perception is reality.

Will dis problem — dat only smokin right now — like dat Tobago jetty problem did fuh years, end up like it? Fuh once, could smoke not mean one less fire tuh fight even if dat mean gettin out ah reactionary mode? Who ready tuh learn what word go fit instead ah ‘collapse’? In case nah.

Eef advocates ah women issues see dis as ah problem, I miss it. Dey create any stink in dey recent meetin when Assistant Commissioner ah Police Ansley Garrick suggest or admit de poleece Crime an Problem Analysis Branch, CAPA, eh have de capacity yet to analyze crime?

‘Capacity’ could mean enough different tings fuh me tuh know exactly which one he meanin so, when ah ask dis is because ah goin wid whatever he meanin: CAPA doh have capacity yet? It in place since 2007. Analyzin data suppose tuh drive de term de TTPS like tuh use fuh how it supposed tuh be now movin. It call, Intelligence-driven poleecin.

Does de ACP admission mean de TTPS doh know how many students in dem missin person bulletin it does issue, does return home safe an what cause dem tuh ups an disappear in de first place?

Could it be de advocates eh jump up an dong because dey focus was orn udder tings in de meetin? Two ah de tings dey could ah have ah greater interest in was de ACP tryin tuh be politically correct in how he say men stronger dan women an de idea somebody float fuh ah all women poleece station. When yuh is ah advocate yuh does become ah hammer an everyting does be nails; fingers an udder body parts look out oui.

Anyhow yuh look at it students goin missin is ah problem. Fuh de public tuh be orn de lookout mean acknowledgin people have brains. When ah missin student turn back up dem same people want details. Counterbalance fairness an privacy nah wid being proactive in fixin families even if is only one safely-returned-student at ah time.

It could never be better tuh wait fuh flames tuh replace smoke.