The SOE also has suffered some political and public opinion blowback. Attorney Dickie Bradley says that he is of the view that the SOE is nothing more than an excessive action by the government which violates the rights of detained persons. We asked the Minister for a response today:
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
"We have to understand the context of Dickie Bradley as you know he is a defense attorney. He is paid well he is paid handsomely to defend criminals. And so he is speaking to Avery specific audience when he is giving his interviews and as you know, he is well known for his room performances, but his media performances. And I chalk it up to that Dickie Bradley is speaking to his specific audience, but when you look at the state of emergency and I always see, it is not a tool that we often use and it is one of last resort, but it has yielded significant results over the last months. We are talking 25 or so weapons in some instances very high-powered weapons removed from the streets making our communities safer. we are talking about several charges not just for murder but instances of robbery. Individuals being charged after the commissioner set up this specialized team to investigate all of the offenses over the last five months. So when you look at it from that lens. And the lens of safety and security of the law abiding citizens over the last month I am sure that you have to agree with me. I think if we had one murder during the first month of the SOE that is a lot. And so from various fonts, you can see the success of it. I will repeat again. It is not a long-term solution. We have put in place long-term solutions such as the creation of this police station various efforts with the LIU continues as the commissioner mentioned you know innovation and technology in solving the various crimes today these are all things part of the overall solution to fighting crime. But in terms of its effectiveness, I would have to say the SOE has yielded good results."