Dear Editor,
Here’s another home affairs minister seeking to steal the thunder from the police force. Tuesday’s statement by Mr. Rohee on the secret cameras was ill-advised. In his attempt to confound his critics, to point fingers and to score political points he gave the criminals whom he is pursuing the confirmation that video surveillance is being conducted in the village of Buxton and its environs. In fact, this reminds me of the method I previously used to extract information from my children when I suspected they were up to some mischief. I would go to the youngest one and dare him to speak and as always he lets the cat out of the bag much to the disappointment of his older siblings. Of course, they learnt to exclude him from future adventures.
Coming back to the subject matter. This is sensitive and confidential national security information that Mr. Rohee has laid bare. Instead of allowing the speculation on video surveillance, he opts to show his cards and thus we have lost the element of surprise and may not be able to complete connecting all the dots. This must be an intelligence coup for the hunted and a disaster for the police clandestine operations. Buxton is a small place and any smart criminal mind will be able by the process of elimination, to figure out the locations of these cameras and their minders.
Maybe I am wrong and I sincerely hope so. Maybe Mr. Rohee is satisfied that he has collected all the information he needs and is about to crack this case wide open. If this is the case, then the timing is poor.
Yours faithfully,
Derek A Braithwaite
