Dear Editor,

Deputy Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis has admitted crime has the country under siege, but then he decided to blame the media for inflaming the fear of crime. This from a man who before the 2012 election, repeatedly demanded that the truth should not be hidden when it comes to the levels of violent crime.

He even defended those reckless 'murder rate' billboards his party erected about the town in an effort to score cheap political points.

Now, the shoe is on the other foot and it is the messenger who is to be blame. Journalists expect such behavior from politicians, who are always scanning about for someone else to be the scapegoat for their own shortcomings.

But in this case, Davis raises a point that has been bothering me for some time. It is the phrase "crime and the fear of crime", which politicians and senior police have been throwing about lately. Both things, they say, are too high.

To me this makes no sense. If crime is too high and people know about it, then the fear of crime can be expected to be just as high. In fact, in a crime ridden society, the higher the fear of crime, the better.

In dangerous places, it only makes good sense to be careful, watchful, on the alert. This makes it less likely that you will become a victim of crime. Therefore, thank goodness for the messenger!

Who knows how many potential victims have been saved through honest reporting. The only people a realistic fear of crime level hurts, actually, are politicians who promised the public they had the solution to crime and then completely failed when it came time to deliver.

- A working journalist

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