Cayman NetNews has another illuminating letter today:

Cayman is at a breakpoint with crime

Dear Sir,

In the US, police live amongst the communities; coach teams, volunteer in school and church, etc., without being disassociated whatsoever.

Cayman is at a breakpoint with crime. For an island with its population size, by any estimation violence is out of control and burglaries are rampant. Caymanians are afraid of the criminals and they are afraid to go to the police for fear that the police will tell the criminals, with recriminations to those informing the police. No West Bay police officer should be from anywhere near West Bay, send them to the East End or Bodden Town and vice-versa.

When there is a local football game, do your check point unannounced at the end of the game and you may be amazed at the number of guns you confiscate. But the chance of this happening without a leak ahead of time may be remote.

Find the “fence” who is purchasing the stolen goods and you will find the thieves. That’s how it’s done in the US; and it works.

I chair a major condo association and we have been repetitively victimised. We all love Cayman, and the Caymanian people are the best. Quit being so proud of speeding tickets or parking tickets. The island has a great chance of burning and becoming just like the rest of the Caribbean if government does not place crime on the top. The police need to focus more on serious crime than anything else. If this continues; why would you choose Cayman?

Do not let this happen; only you; police and government, can create the will to win this war. You lose the war because of politics and you lose the island. No one will win.

Rob Holt

This is, remember, a place where the judiciary have been investigated for corruption.

And there has been much rumour of police corruption.

Poverty is real — especially when there is massive conspicuous consumption all around.

So how can you regulate effectively in that environment? If basic law and order does not work — what chance of eliminating corruption in financial services?

The Islands are bankrupt, in more ways than one.