On Tuesday, February 11 2020 the media reported the death of Makeisha Maynard, an eight-year-old child who was killed by her father Michael Maynard. This was a tragedy that wounded many hearts.
Someone I know went to the community where Makeisha lived to investigate. Makeisha was often beaten and heard screaming but the young girl would still say “daddy I love you” despite the abuse.
Makeisha’s spilt blood still speaks and reminds those in authority that she could have been saved if only someone had tried to do something before it was too late.
The following is a list of red flags that should have drawn the attention of social services to intervene:
1. In 2018, a report of rape was made against Makeisha’s father. He was arrested, charged and released on bail.
2. In April 2019, a report was made about threats and child neglect by Makeisha’s aunt. The TTPS spoke to relatives. At the time, two children were living with their grandmother at Kelly Village, Caroni. The children denied that they were beaten and there were no marks of violence on their bodies.
3. In 2011, Makeisha’s father was arrested and charged with assaulting Maysonia Thomas, and his eight-month-old daughter.
Anyone who reads this list could clearly see the need for an intervention to assist Makeisha’s family before some crisis occurred. However, in Trinidad, all of this information is kept in proprietary databases that are only accessible by the TTPS.
In other words, the Children’s Authority and social workers who may have heard about Makeisha’s abuse would not have been able to easily check her father’s criminal record to help them make a judgement call.
A simple solution to save the life of the next Makeisha would be to create a cloud-based data warehouse to store all relevant law enforcement information. Children’s Authority should be able to readily access criminal records and pending charges.
All protection orders, child abuse reports and other relevant information should be put on this system for ease of access to law enforcement and the Children’s Authority.
A very simple predictive policing algorithm could then be used to connect the dots and red flag cases that need urgent attention. Such systems are already in place in police departments in developed nations.
Such a predicting policing system would be extremely powerful in helping to prevent all classes of criminal activity. The TTPS often complains of the difficulties it faces with its limited manpower. If police officers could determine which cases need the most urgent attention it would greatly assist in crime prevention and save time and resources.
Speeding up the
Criminal Justice system
Makeisha’s father was already arrested for rape but was out on bail. If he had been convicted of his crime within two years he would have been in prison and Makeisha would have been alive today.
If the assault case in 2011 had succeeded in a conviction, Makeisha’s father may have never had the opportunity to commit rape in 2018 or murder in 2020.
Investments are needed in the office of the DPP and in new criminal courts to expedite trials and get more dangerous men off of the street where they can do further harm to the public.
Investment in the Child Protection Unit and Children’s Homes is needed.
I met with the Child Protection Unit of the TTPS at their office in Belmont and found myself taken aback. While the officers in the unit were highly professional it was clear that their unit had no facilities to properly counsel and take a report from a child.
The unit is in dire need of more funding and attention to achieve its mandate.
A senior law enforcement official whom I will not name also told me in confidence, “Even if we rescued Makeisha we have nowhere to put her.” Essentially, Trinidad and Tobago needs more children’s homes that are properly staffed and funded to deal with survivors of abuse and at-risk youths.
Technology can also end
gun licensing corruption
The recent scandal of corruption and delays in the granting of firearms licences is also a problem easily solved by technology. The TTPS could implement software that could read FUL applications digitally and check criminal records databases for prior offences and then approve the firearms licence in seconds.
Human staff will have to approve all decisions of the software to prevent errors, however, using cloud-based technology a permanent record of all decisions on firearms licences could be kept and monitored by external agencies to prevent further corruption.
Such a firearms approval system could work in tandem with the system I proposed to highlight perpetrators of gender-based violence.
Applications for firearms licenses could be approved in weeks rather than years but unfortunately, there is no political will to introduce this type of technology as yet.
We need to put pressure on politicians and decision-makers to get serious about doing their jobs and stop making excuses for non-performance especially when the lives of children like Makeisha have already been lost due to incompetence.