Ever the paranoid ex-cop I watched both political leaders arrive at their respective rallies and immediately I defaulted to my police senses.
Like “Spidey senses tingling” I thought how easy it would be to actually take out either of these two leaders if someone had a mind to.
At a time when there are terror threats and terrorist threats across the Globe, and with Jamaica’s history of political violence what is the thinking of the candidates and maybe most importantly the agency tasked with their protection?
Okay I know many of my former colleagues are thinking “Mike these m****r‑f*****s deserve whatever may be coming to them”.
I get that but this is less about them and more about the people and the agency tasked with their protection.
Imagine the vitriolic back-lash if one of these leaders is killed because the police fail to have a cohesive plan in place to adequately protect them.
If the Police cannot ensure that guns do not get into the venue, then candidates should not be arriving in a mass of flesh standing with parts of their bodies protruding through the rooves of their vehicles.
The police Commissioner and his top brass cannot assume that sending some poorly trained , poorly equipped poorly backed up cops to an event rises to the level of security.
Security plans must be designed with the compliance of political candidates who conform with the dictates of the plan. Police does not get to tell politicians how to be politicians , conversely politicians must conform to police plans to keep them and others safe.
As I watched both candidates arrive at their respective rally I wondered with a smile how in hell a couple of cops hanging off the vehicle amount to security for the candidates?
I must admit I was not at all surprised that an actual shooting could occur in a political meeting . I would not have been one bit surprised that the leader of one party or the other could have been killed right there.
One of the things I taught my family and to a large extent my wife is never get caught saying the things people say on Television when criminals strike, “oh I never though something like that could happen here”.
Stuff occur wherever you give criminal minded people the opportunity to commit crimes.
Leaving a pocket book in a car will most likely leave the owner without a pocket-book, a car, or at best some costly window repairs.
Why take that chance take the pocket-book with you or, after making sure you are not being observed, place the item of worth in the locked trunk of your vehicle.
Sunday February 7th Mass JLP rally in Sam Sharpe Square did not happen upon the Police without warning, neither did the PNP’s mass rally in Half-Way-tree square.
I must confess that I do not have a copy of the plan the Police had in place to ensure the safety and security of the candidates and their supporters.
I am also painfully aware of the un-disciplined nature of Jamaicans of both political stripes, particularly when they have a cheering section and worse when they are operating in political groups.
The police should however use these very characteristics to develop workable plans which leave no question of who is in charge, as well as keeping their charges safe.
The Police had the opportunity to develop detailed written plans to ensure the safety of attendees to these events as well as to ensure that whomever show up with mal-intent are swiftly apprehended.
Many of my friends would most certainly want to know how come I know there was no plan in place?
To those questions I say , on Sunday two people were killed and others were injured and no one in custody which is a shocking indictment on whatever plan or security apparatus that they thought they had in place.
Police may not be able to prevent every shooting but they damn well can make sure that the shooters will be apprehended on the spot.
The question I have for the JCF as a former Jamaican cop is this,“when will the supposed more educated more sophisticated JCf stop being the Barney Fyffe of policing”?
I believe the Police still have barriers for crowd control , the police must do a better job with the limited resources it has .
The Commissioner of Police should have had hundreds of police officers over a thousand even, cops on horse-back, cops with Canines and elements of every practical piece of asset the Police has at it’s disposal shuttled in from Kingston into Montego Bay days ahead of the meeting.
The police must set the agenda , moving attendees through barriers where they are searched before they are allowed into the general area where the crowd would convene .
I really don’t want to hear about multiple entry/egress points .
It is what it is secure it.
Observer Photo..
Jamaican people understand one language, that is the language of force and power. The police demonstrate fecklessness and weakness.
I have just about had it with the fecklessness of the Police. There is no critical thinking in the police department from what meets the eyes and what my sources tell me it’s all a damn show.
Every damn person coming to that event should have been ushered through police checkpoints . If a patron does not want to comply he/she should leave or face arrest .
That means the paddy-wagon should be on stand-by and yes each officer appropriately armed and issued with plastic handcuffs.
The police must accept responsibility for what occurred at that meeting, I don’t care that a supposed criminal got killed, that is not the important thing.
What this event laid bare is the incompetence of the police in securing the patrons and the leader of the Opposition.
The fact that there was no shooting at the PNP event a week earlier is cold comfort for the police and the Prime Minister.