Law-abiding, God-fearing and morally upstanding people will have to get back to the drawing board and reassess their daily security and see how they can best reduce, if not totally erase, their vulnerability to being victims of crime.

Why? Because each time the news comes out, there is a new pastime that the criminals are preoccupied with and the latest one is kidnapping.

If memory serves correctly, there have been about three reported kidnappings on the island this month alone. The most recent one was the Valentine's Day incident in Clarendon where a three-year-old boy was taken and a ransom of half a million dollars was requested for his safe return. Of course, through negotiations that figure dropped to $4,000 and a gold chain. Then alas, the child was returned unharmed.

While this is all good and well, the matter of these recent or maybe not-so-recent kidnappings highlight one thing, and that is the fact that people now have no choice but to be ultra-alert and take nothing for granted. It is always better to be safe than sorry. Take note of everything and everyone around you, never put yourself in a situation where your safety becomes compromised, care not for who thinks you're a coward.

These criminals are always thinking up new devilish and lucrative ways to make money so we have to make sure we are always a step ahead of them.