National addresses by leaders are significant. They indicate that the topic being addressed is of national significance. They also indicate that the state is placing its full weight behind solving the problem under consideration.
No sensible person disagrees that we have a crime problem in The Bahamas. There have been four murder records in five years. The total murder count this year will be considerably larger than last year's record count. There are also problems with robberies and break-ins.  Bahamians, especially residents of New Providence, do not feel safe in their paradise anymore.
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham's address on crime Monday night was comprehensive.  He brought forward new initiatives on the response and prevention sides of the issue of crime.  We will first address the response side.
Ingraham announced an amnesty period for illegal weapons to be turned in, tougher penalties for people found guilty of gun crimes, and the addition of two courts at the Magistrates' Court level for gun and drug crimes.  Magistrates will now have the power to sentence convicts to a maximum of seven years in prison rather than the five years currently allowed.
An additional criminal court at the Supreme Court level will be active by January, the prime minister said, along with a remand court at Her Majesty's Prison.  This new court will reduce the frequency of the bussing of prisoners to the downtown area.  This is welcomed and a relief.  The change will reduce serious risk to innocent people.
Legislation is also foreshadowed to clarify the sentencing of murder convicts.  Based on Ingraham's remarks, there will be three degrees of murder.  One will be death eligible; one subject to a full life sentence in jail; and the other to sentences between 30 and 60 years.
We have gone on record with our opposition to the death penalty.  Aside from that sentence, we agree that designations are needed for categories of murder.
These initiatives, and others already underway or just announced by the government, are useful.  However, more could have been said about the state of the Office of the Attorney General.
While the prime minister said more investigation training is on the way for police, prosecutors at the Office of the Attorney General still present cases in the Supreme Court.  It is true that police investigators have to up their performances.  The state prosecution office needs to do the same.
We are not convinced that the Office of the Attorney General and its personnel and structure are up to the task of efficiently and successfully prosecuting matters in a timely fashion.
This office somehow escapes public scrutiny.  Commissioners of police and ministers of national security should play their parts and lead.  However, attorneys general and directors of public prosecution are equally involved in the justice system.  Both the AG and his DPP must be more public and demonstrate to the country that they too are feeling pressure and are reforming their area of responsibility.
If our police put together good cases and our prosecutors bring them forward quickly, there would be no issue of bail.
We also think the government should clear the courts and its prosecution register of old cases that cannot be successfully or reasonably prosecuted.  This is a difficult task, as it will require informing victims and their families that there will be no trial and punishment via the courts for vile offenses committed.  Orders of no prosecution should be issued for all of these cases.
Years of failure to manage the criminal justice system properly have led us here.  The Office of the Attorney General's time should not be wasted chasing past failure.  We must work to ensure that the state prosecution service is feared.
If it is feared, many offenders would plead guilty to crimes committed when charged because they fear trial and a higher sentence.
"We are confronted by criminals - a criminal class of older seasoned offenders as well as a crop of bloody-minded juvenile offenders and thugs who seem to believe that they can evade the rule of law with little or no regard for life and other people's property," said Ingraham.
"For some, life is cheap; our common welfare is of no value.  I share your anguish and anger whether you or a family member or neighbor has been a victim of crime.  This vicious assault of crime affects us all.  It destroys lives and damages livelihoods."
We are at a crossroad.  If the level of crime and violence in our country rises further, we will become an unstable state and more of our citizens will consider living elsewhere.
We do not think the measures the government announced on the response side to crime will solve the problem, but we do think they will help counter the dangerous and violent trends that have emerged. We applaud the initiatives and hope that they will be effectively implemented.

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