Criminologist Renee Cummings warns the country faces what she calls “strategic bankruptcy” in homicide reduction.
A spate of homicides and other violent crime resulted in a state of emergency being called on 3 March.
In a social media post, she says proven, data-driven methods exist to cut murders and improve police clearance rates, but authorities continue to rely on States of Emergency and tough talk.
“It demands analysis, coordination, precision, and institutional competence. It requires understanding patterns of retaliation, network dynamics, investigative bottlenecks, and prosecutorial gaps and then designing interventions accordingly,” Cummings stated.
“Brute force, brawn, big talk, and performative “badman” posturing from those masquerading as law enforcement leaders are relics of a policing era that should have ended decades ago,” she added.
Cummings argues effective crime fighting requires analysis, coordination and scientific policing—not brute force or political posturing.
“In an intelligent society, public safety is engineered, not announced or declared in the dead of night or the wee hours of the morning while the nation is asleep. Crime prevention is not a sneaky pursuit; it is method, design, brain power and disciplined execution,” she said.
“No one is deceived. What is exposed instead is a concerning gap in even the most basic understanding of professional policing fundamentals and the critical criminological competence this moment demands.”
