Tensing shot Sam DuBose at point-black range. The video wasn’t enough to convict him.
A judge declared a mistrial Friday after an Ohio jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict in thetrial of a police officer who shot and killed a man during a July 2015 traffic stop. University of Cincinnati officer Ray Tensing, who is white, had been charged with murder in the death of 43-year-old Sam DuBose, who was black. The trial was the second for Tensing for the same incident — his first trial also resulted in a deadlocked jury and mistrial last November.
DuBose’s shooting made national headlines in 2015 after video of the incident recorded by Tensing’s body camera showed the officer shooting DuBose point-blank in the head. Tensing, who was patrolling off campus, had pulled over DuBose because he was driving without a front license plate. After an exchange about DuBose’s license and registration, the video appears to show DuBose start his car. Tensing testified that he shot DuBose after DuBose attempted to drive off. Tensing said that he thought he was going to be dragged underneath the car because his arm was pinned in DuBose’s passenger-side car window. But a forensic video expert testified for the prosecution that the video showed that Tensing’s arm was not pinned and that Tensing pulled his gun and aimed it at DuBose before the car began moving forward. The prosecution and defense made largely the same arguments and called many of the same witnesses in both trials.
DuBose’s shooting followed a traffic encounter between a police officer and 28-year-old Sandra Bland in Waller County, Texas, which had taken place roughly a week earlier. Video of that incident also went viral — and protests followed after it was reported that Bland had been found dead in her jailcell several days later; her death was ruled a suicide.
The Tensing verdict also comes amid a string of police-related news over the past week. Last Friday, a jury found a Minnesota police officer, Jeronimo Yanez, not guilty of second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Philando Castile during a traffic stop last July. On Wednesday, a jury in Milwaukee found another officer, Dominique Heaggan-Brown, not guilty of reckless homicide and other charges in the shooting death of Sylville Smith last August.
In 2010 the Jamaican security forces went into Tivoli Gardens to retrieve Christopher (duddus)Coke who was wanted on an extradition warrant to the United States.
Bruce Golding
The Security forces despite their obvious shortcomings , went over and above the call of whats required, by conforming to the criminal coddling bureaucracy in Kingston. They offered entreatments to members of that community to leave as they intended to enter that enclave to retrieve the gangland overlord ..
Women march in support of crime lord in 2010
They provided buses and created temporary shelters for residents should they decide to leave. Residents decided to remain in their community. Hundreds came out onto the streets clad in white T‑shirts extolling their undying love for their Don.
Police stations burned as heavily armed militiamen literally took over sections of the city of Kingston…
The Police showed incredible restraint despite the level of hostility and criminality which was brewing at the time . ♦ Police officers shot. ♦ Police station torched. ♦ Police station strafed with automatic gun fire. ♦ Mercenaries from across the Island converging on the community of Tivoli Gardens to lend their guns, treasonous support and allegiance to the Don of all dons, Christopher Coke.
SEQUENCEOFEVENTS.…
At the time the JLP Administration of Orett Bruce Golding did everything in it’s power to prevent the extradition of Coke who has since been extradited and is serving an extended sentence in a Federal Correctional Facility. Those actions included but were not confined to ♦ hiring Washington Law Firm Manhatt Phelps and Phillips to Lobby the US State Department to squash the extradition request. ♦ Purportedly leaking to Christopher Coke specifics of the confidential and sensitive Extradition Order immediately after the then police Commissioner Hardley Lewin briefed the then Minister of National Security Dwight Nelson.
Dwight Nelson former Min. of Security Dwight Nelson speaks at the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce board meeting at the JCC office on Ocean boulevard on Tuesday, September 15, 2009.
Lewin said at the time it was frightening that minutes after he met with the national security minister to brief him about the pending extradition request, Christopher Coke was informed. Lewin said he was also troubled by the response of the Prime Minister when he sat with Golding at Vale Royal to brief him about the pending extradition request for Coke.
Bunting and Phillips
Since the Security forces annexed Tivoli Gardens to the Jamaican state, a PNP Administration out of political expediency, has set up a Kangaroo commission of Inquiry headed by a foreigner Bajan David Simmons, which concluded that the security forces acted unlawfully in their actions. This despite the dead police and soldiers , burned police stations and the recovery of just under a hundred guns and untold rounds of ammunition.
PM Andrew Holness
A new JLP Administration headed by Andrew Holness has since apologized to the community of Tivoli Gardens. An apology to a community which took up weapons against the Jamaican state and harbored a wanted international fugitive. I have not heard a single word of thanks uttered to the security forces.
The People’s National Party (PNP) has more than twice the amount of enclaves like Tivoli gardens ‚than the JLP does.
So it is understandable that the PNP would object to any anti-crime initiative being contemplated to deal with the crime monster. IN 2010 after the security forces breached and cleared Tivoli and had rooted out the terrorists, the security forces sought an extension to the limited state of emergency which was granted them to deal with the existential crisis. To a single person members of the PNP objected , using the flimsy excuse the security forces may violate the rights of retreating criminals.
In the first instance , what was up with the incremental and hesitant granting of authority to the security forces as if the Government was doing the security forces a favor ? The PNP by that course of action allowed hundreds of heavily armed terrorists to slither away and embed themselves into the fabric of many rural communities. Those killers are responsible for the crime wave across Jamaica’s rural parishes today. So too is the PNP culpable, as a result of it’s negligent and overtly political actions.
RESULT.
As a result of the PNP’s treasonous actions once sleepy parishes like Portland, Hanover, and Trelawny are now experiencing massive increases in murder and other violent felonies and others like Clarendon St James , and St Catherine are now registering homicide numbers never before seen in our country. The PNP is again in opposition, and as it does whether in Government or Opposition, it is opposing taking action against criminals . It is now engaged in fighting new anti-crime legislation put forward by the Andrew Holness Administration . Again the PNP is advancing the same tired worn out arguments of rights and constitutionality as a means to standing on the sidelines as crime explode, for political purposes.
Simpson Miller
CONCLUSION.
The arguments being proffered by Peter Phillips and Peter Bunting on crime should be discarded as the PNP is discarded on the dump-heap of history. After 22 years of leadership out of the past 40 years prior to the elections over a year ago , the PNP has been a dismal and colossal failure .
This is evidenced by ♦ Their support of criminal Dons♦ Expanding crime syndicates through the granting of contracts and giveaways ♦ Shielding and sheltering of criminals in zones of political exclusions♦ The starving of the security forces of training , equipment and remunerations♦ The degeneration of our popular culture ♦ The advancement of lies and innuendos as part of a smear campaign to defame the security forces which could only come from the playbook of JFJ and Jamaica’s criminal elites.
Commissioner Quallo have a word for ACP Élan Powell
On that basis Peter Phillips and Peter Bunting should be ignored as they try to convince you they somehow miraculously now have the answers to crime.
It wasn’t too long ago that as minister of national security Peter Bunting threw up his hands in exasperation claiming that he needed divine intervention to fight crime. The PNP has no practical crime reduction plan they never did and they certainly don’t today.
God will not fight crime for us , it is within our power to do for ourselves. Standing in the way of practical solutions then calling for divine intervention is a function of intellectual bankruptcy, at least on the issue of crime.
The PNP has positioned itself as a populist party from as far back as it’s inception. Because of that it has been unable and unwilling to lift a finger to address the burning issue of crime , leading to our present situation today. The PNP has been comfortable governing and stealing from the public in the chaos of murder and mayhem.
There is a very long way to go as far as the JLP is concerned on crime. Nevertheless , despite it’s failings the JLP should never be confused with the pathetic People’s National Party as it relates to crime and security. This JLP Administration is timid to act on crime as a political matter exactly because the PNP has traditionally lined up on the side of criminals and therein lies the problem.
The following is a statement released a short while ago by former President Barack Obama on the occasion of the release of the Senate’s health care repeal bill.
Our politics are divided. They have been for a long time. And while I know that division makes it difficult to listen to Americans with whom we disagree, that’s what we need to do today.
I recognize that repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act has become a core tenet of the Republican Party. Still, I hope that our Senators, many of whom I know well, step back and measure what’s really at stake, and consider that the rationale for action, on health care or any other issue, must be something more than simply undoing something that Democrats did.
We didn’t fight for the Affordable Care Act for more than a year in the public square for any personal or political gain – we fought for it because we knew it would save lives, prevent financial misery, and ultimately set this country we love on a better, healthier course.
Nor did we fight for it alone. Thousands upon thousands of Americans, including Republicans, threw themselves into that collective effort, not for political reasons, but for intensely personal ones – a sick child, a parent lost to cancer, the memory of medical bills that threatened to derail their dreams.
And you made a difference. For the first time, more than ninety percent of Americans know the security of health insurance. Health care costs, while still rising, have been rising at the slowest pace in fifty years. Women can’t be charged more for their insurance, young adults can stay on their parents’ plan until they turn 26, contraceptive care and preventive care are now free. Paying more, or being denied insurance altogether due to a preexisting condition – we made that a thing of the past.
We did these things together. So many of you made that change possible.
At the same time, I was careful to say again and again that while the Affordable Care Act represented a significant step forward for America, it was not perfect, nor could it be the end of our efforts – and that if Republicans could put together a plan that is demonstrably better than the improvements we made to our health care system, that covers as many people at less cost, I would gladly and publicly support it.
That remains true. So I still hope that there are enough Republicans in Congress who remember that public service is not about sport or notching a political win, that there’s a reason we all chose to serve in the first place, and that hopefully, it’s to make people’s lives better, not worse.
But right now, after eight years, the legislation rushed through the House and the Senate without public hearings or debate would do the opposite. It would raise costs, reduce coverage, roll back protections, and ruin Medicaid as we know it. That’s not my opinion, but rather the conclusion of all objective analyses, from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which found that 23 million Americans would lose insurance, to America’s doctors, nurses, and hospitals on the front lines of our health care system.
The Senate bill, unveiled today, is not a health care bill. It’s a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America. It hands enormous tax cuts to the rich and to the drug and insurance industries, paid for by cutting health care for everybody else. Those with private insurance will experience higher premiums and higher deductibles, with lower tax credits to help working families cover the costs, even as their plans might no longer cover pregnancy, mental health care, or expensive prescriptions. Discrimination based on pre-existing conditions could become the norm again. Millions of families will lose coverage entirely.
Simply put, if there’s a chance you might get sick, get old, or start a family – this bill will do you harm. And small tweaks over the course of the next couple weeks, under the guise of making these bills easier to stomach, cannot change the fundamental meanness at the core of this legislation.
I hope our Senators ask themselves – what will happen to the Americans grappling with opioid addiction who suddenly lose their coverage? What will happen to pregnant mothers, children with disabilities, poor adults and seniors who need long-term care once they can no longer count on Medicaid? What will happen if you have a medical emergency when insurance companies are once again allowed to exclude the benefits you need, send you unlimited bills, or set unaffordable deductibles? What impossible choices will working parents be forced to make if their child’s cancer treatment costs them more than their life savings?
To put the American people through that pain – while giving billionaires and corporations a massive tax cut in return – that’s tough to fathom. But it’s what’s at stake right now. So it remains my fervent hope that we step back and try to deliver on what the American people need.
That might take some time and compromise between Democrats and Republicans. But I believe that’s what people want to see. I believe it would demonstrate the kind of leadership that appeals to Americans across party lines. And I believe that it’s possible – if you are willing to make a difference again. If you’re willing to call your members of Congress. If you are willing to visit their offices. If you are willing to speak out, let them and the country know, in very real terms, what this means for you and your family.
After all, this debate has always been about something bigger than politics. It’s about the character of our country – who we are, and who we aspire to be. And that’s always worth fighting for.
Once peaceful Parishes which hardly recorded a single case of murder in a month are now transformed into veritable killing fields as gangsters with high powered weapons roam kill and burn with impunity.
In Hanover for example , a once sleepy ‚safe place where violent crimes seemed worlds away , last year 17 murders were reported to Police for the entire year. Thus far this year already there have been 38 homicides reported , an over 125% increase over the preceding year.
Among those statistics is 71 ‑year-old butcher Joel Malcolm,who was murdered in his own home as he and family members watched Television. Mister Malcolm’s house was reportedly razed with bullets killing him and injuring a 63 year old family friend who is fighting for his life in hospital. Mister Malcolm’s wife Eugene Malcolm and her grandchildren were spared instant death only because they hid in a corner of the family’s kitchen.
As the carnage continue bureaucrats in Kingston dither on whether to unleash the full force of the law on the marauding terrorists. In the meantime there is a certain entrenched element in the society which must be rooted out and discarded if the country is to be saved.
That element does not pull the trigger or may not even pay for the guns and ammunition. It is a certain element in Kingston which hide behind television and radio walls , behind newsprint and in NGO’s . They hide in Academia, and in boardrooms. They can be found in the pulpits and yes , they are certainly in the parliament. They are an elitist cabal of new age niggers who adopt a posture of anti-law enforcement .
This is not new in our country . For decades this cabal of niggers have used the education they acquired at the intellectual ghetto (to channel the late Wilmott (Mutty)Perkins), to aid and support criminals and lawlessness in the country. The liberal teachings they acquire have been used to destroy our once conservative and prospering Island , turning it into a Serengeti of murder and mayhem.
Through the airwaves , print media and other means they have subverted the rule of law , like termites in a structure made of wood they have eaten away at the foundation of our democracy, .Intending to demonstrate they are the newly minted intellectuals, liberated from the shackles of their colonialist past.
Their control of the narrative has not been good for our country. They hide behind grilled fortresses in gated compounds in upper St, Andrew, safe for now, or so they think. They convince themselves that they are immune , safe from the calamity which is happening and will certainly metastasize.
In order to fix this little Island we must first deal with removing from the equation the impediments to progress. They are not losing sons and daughters , mother and fathers . It is the poor and rural folks who are dying while they sit in ivory towers and pontificate. This must stop ! As I have said repeatedly,when the Colombian state faced extinction , faced being over-run and relegated to a Narco-state ‚elements of the Colombian people rose up and took their country back.
Fort Charlotte Hanover
If ever there was a time for righteous conscious Jamaicans to rise up and overthrow this entrenched culture of support for criminals it is now. The Jamaican people know who they are , they hear them on the radio , the see them on television, they hear them in the pulpits, they see them in the parliament, and they see them in the colleges. We must take our country back from this destructive path it is on. Before we do that however we must remove the impediments to change. The new niggers in charge.
DEPUTY Commissioner of Police (DCP) Clifford Blake yesterday supported legislation which will, among other things, allow the police to declare special zones of operations in volatile areas, but said it is time for social agencies to step up to the plate to sustain peace through development in these communities.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Clifford Blake cited the lack of adequate support from these agencies results in gangs often regrouping and eroding whatever progress is made by the security forces.
He was making the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s (JCF’s) submission to the Joint Select Committee of Parliament which is reviewing the Law Reform (Zones of Special Operations) (Special Security and Community Development Measures). The committee is hearing submissions from various interest groups, with a view to having a report ready for Parliament in just over a week.
There is a serious disconnect in the way Jamaicans see what is happening to the Island as it relates to crime.
That disconnect is obvious in the way the issue of lawlessness is quantified by the society, including the high command of the Police Department.
As along as these Interest groups see the crippling instances of horrific Murder and Terrorism as a WAR to be aided by social intervention the problem will remain. Jamaica is not at war a‑la the 70’s to 80′ s.
Back then the motive for the killings was politics. The rudiments have changed, since the 80’s ‚there has been a paradigm shift in the motivation behind the crime Jamaica experience today.
Much of the crime today is about personal greed which fuels murder. This continues because of acquiescence and fear. People in Jamaica kill because they know the likelihood they will ultimately be held accountable is next to nil, despite the number of arrests cited by DCP Blake. The society is not at war, it is in love with murderers and that’s the issue.
“Daily Show” host Trevor Noah has never shied away from speaking out against police brutality. His Tuesday night broadcast was a particularly strong example of that.
During his segment “Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That”, the South Africa-born Noah discussed his experiences as a black man living in America, and the acquittal of Jeronimo Yanez, the man who fatally shot Philando Castile in July 2016.
“It’s just a part of a black person’s life in America,” says Noah in a Between the Scenes video. “Here’s how crazy it is — I’ve lived in America for 6 years… I have been stopped by the police maybe going on at least 8 to 10 times.”
Through jokes and a reenactment of an interaction with police, Noah discussed a harsh truth that was highlighted in Castile’s death and the countless other cases like it: even a traffic stop can prove fatal for a black person in America regardless if they do every single thing they’re told to do. “As soon as I come to a dead stop I throw my hands out the window,” he says while launching his hands at his desk. Read more here…http://www.salon.com/2017/06/21/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-philando-castile/
How many times have you heard that line? It is a statement used to impress upon others the validity of the action being discussed, if the action came out of that legislative body. It’s also used by certain interests to bludgeon others into accepting actions of the Parliament even though those actions may be demonstrably flawed.
.….….…
In the tortured 7 year history since the INDECOM Act became law we have heard that term used almost daily, “it is an act of parliament”, giving God like sacrocance to the parliament, as if that fundamentally flawed body cannot produce something inherently flawed. And therein lies the problem , “it is an act of parliament” has become the buffer being used by supporters of the flawed and dangerous law , none more so than Terrence Williams the Commissioner of that body, and the little mongrel dogs who populate the airwaves seeking to make a name for themselves. The very fact that Terrence Williams is opposed to oversight or review, is enough to cause Jamaicans to wonder why is he so reluctant to have the very body which authorized the law review it .
The law was not made for Terrence Williams! Or was it ? Terrence Williams work for the Jamaican tax-payers and as such must be subject to the dictates and scrutiny of those elected to act on behalf of the people. Prime Minister Andrew Holness a few days ago issued a statement stating that the INDECOM Act needs review in light of recent complaints from law enforcement. However I believe that Holness couldn’t care less what the security forces think , he sees the dead bodies piling up,(sometimes seven in a single day) on his watch and he is starting to panic.
HEREISWHERETHERUBBERMEETSTHEROAD
There was never a problem with the creation of a professional oversight body to oversee the actions of the security forces. That is an absolutely necessary requirement , even with law enforcement engaging in best practices , much less the level of corruption and criminal activities in which members of the security forces engage.
With that said we must be clear-eyed that INDECOM was cobbled together without input from the security forces , and as such the law ended up becoming a huge Albatross around the necks of law abiding Jamaicans and having a resultant degenerative effect on crime. Despite our most base instincts to default to anti-police hatred , it behoove the society to acknowledge that without the police there is no society. Flawed though the Jamaican security forces are, there is no Jamaica without them.
From the beginning the INDECOM Commissioner adopted a stance that he was not going to do what the law empowered him to do he would take on a more activist role a‑la JFJ ‚FAST , PMI etc. Instead of investigating and charging or absolving , Williams joined anti-police ‚anti law ‑enforcement lobby groups and engaged in a systematic pattern of misinformation and demagoguery against the nation’s law enforcement agencies.
Since being given the job as head of INDECOM Williams has engaged in (1)A scorched earth policy which is evidenced in his rapacious and insatiable appetite for more power. (2) A litigious path seeking that power. (3) defamation and demagoguery of those with whom he disagrees, including the Director Of Public Prosecution, the police Military and Corrections departments (4) a visceral rallying of Elitist forces in the print and electronic media to wage campaigns against those who chooses not to bow to him.
It is important that as a society, [what’s left of it] , the decision makers understand that despite their continued subversive behavior they have a country to live in because of the Police and Military. That country is not in existence because empty headed mouthpieces like Nationwide Radio’s Cliff Hughes one of Williams’ media ally bloviate about the virtues of INDECOM .
It is not unusual that little “grung gads”[sic] like Hughes get to sit in air conditioned studios and make grand pronouncements about INDECOM’s significance. No one is arguing against oversight for the agencies INDECOM provides oversight, . In fact the police are vindicated in the vast majority of times INDECOM investigates. The problem is Terrence Williams , Hamish Campbell and the crime enhancement tool the INDECOM Act has become. Much more needs to be done about Hughes and others who offer support and succor to criminals, using their perches in the society. In 2013 Cliff Hughes found himself answering to charges he defamed former PM Percival James Patterson. Obviously the M$12.5 Cliff Hughes was ordered to pay former Prime Minister PJ Patterson has not served as a deterrent to his lying defamatory lips.
Under Examination from Counsel KD Knight Hughes was asked about his knowledge of Mr. Patterson’s character and whether the former Prime Minister would have done something illegal. The flaming liar Cliff Hughes replied “No! Emphatically, no!”
The claim was related to a new item aired on NNN in 2009, concerning an incident at the Norman Manley International Airport involving a Digicel charter flight which arrived from Cuba with Patterson.
Hughes
♦On that basis the Police , military and Corrections Departments must use the power of their dollar, and whatever leverage they have to ensure that they do not support advertisers who place ads on Nationwide Radio , given the level of demagoguery which comes from that entity.
♦ They should answer no 119 call in real time, which comes from Cliff Hughes, any member of his family ‚or any person with whom he is associated. Sure they have a duty to respond, but as police officers they must know how to arrive late do the paperwork and go home. Let them call INDECOM for help.
The Jamaican people have a choice to make . Do they allow a few bloviating fools to sit and grandstand while their loved ones are being slaughtered, or do they take action and remove from the equation those who place themselves squarely in defense of criminals?
The police will have to stand up for themselves ‚like police across the globe do stand up for themselves. The time has passed when little runts like Hughes are allowed to defame entire entities. Tarring the entire police force , using the defamatory lies of illegal planting of guns illegal killings without the benefit of evidence must not be allowed to continue.
The Prime Minister was finally forced to acknowledge that the INDECOM Act needs review. Whether he was forced to acknowledge what most intelligent people already knew, or the increasing number of dead bodies forced that statement we may never know. What we do know is that the first order of business must be to fire Terence Willams and get rid of the rancor, narcissism and bad blood .
Neither Jamaicans For Justice nor their protégée Terrence Williams gets to decide whether INDECOM gets reviewed. If Williams does not like it he is free to go join a law firm, start one of his own or mow someone’s lawn for all I care. If the Administration refuses to do what it must we will militate for the removal of the Government…
The dirty cops who continue to drag the name of the JCF in the mud must also be on notice . This medium will support every effort to weed you out from among the good men and women who want to do a good job. Not only will we support your removal, we will support your prosecution and imprisonment. One way or another we will bring this monster under control.
“No one wants to wake up and see a front-page story in our newspapers stating, ‘Jamaica bleeds’,” Bartlett told delegates attending the 56th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston two days ago.
Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett
If this statement wasn’t so seriously unhelpful and dangerous I would bust out laughing .….
Look I have always liked Ed Bartlett. As a Jamaican Politician Ed Bartlett is probably one of the nicer persons you will find of any of the creeps who traverse Gordon House. I have met and interacted with Minister Bartlett twice in his capacity as member of parliament of the Nannyville-Back-Bush area of St, Andrew and they were rather positive encounters. On that basis I will try to be charitable to minister Bartlett , even as I disagree with his approach.
♦ Minister Bartlett in his understandable concern for the sector over which he has portfolio has unwittingly suggested that dollars are more important than people. Now lets be real here, there are many people in this present day Jamaica who aren’t worth fighting for , despite that however we have to work toward building a better Jamaica regardless of those deplorables.
Said Bartlett : While acknowledging the role of the media in a free democracy, graphic details of crime in Jamaica can destroy all the gains that have been made in the tourism sector in recent years.”
In other words lets pretend that this isn’t happening. We will just simply sweep the garbage under the rug and pretend the house is clean, no one will, know. Laughable, crime is a metastasizing phenomenon which feeds on acquiescence and fear. Those two defining characteristics have been part of Jamaica’s attitude toward crime for decades. The yearly escalation in the number of homicides is testament to the fact that-that policy does not fix the problem it enables it.
♦ In a Democracy you don’t get to suppress news you don’t like . Instead of lobbying stakeholders withing the tourism sector to pony up money to help train, equip, and pay the police Minister Bartlett wants what little effectiveness the Media has left to be further diminished through censorship . This is what makes Ed Bartlett’s statement so significant.
Bruce Golding
The Minister must know that neither he nor the administration of which he is a part have a right to demand where and how the media operates. On the other hand Minister Bartlett is woefully behind the times if he believes that the news out of Jamaica is coming largely from the few little news papers there . Clearly the minister does not understand the power of Blogs and social media platforms in shaping and disseminating the news and information in real time organically.
As exasperating as the issue of crime and terrorism is to the delicate tourism industry, the answer is certainly not to try to suppress the news but to brainstorm with a view toward resolving this existential issue. For decades successive governments of both political parties have supported criminal conduct at the expense of the rule of law and law enforcement. The present Prime Minister, as did the previous labor party Prime Minister Bruce Golding, clearly misunderstood that supporting those who are opposed to the police would lead to calamitous consequences for the Island.
As I have said consistently I do not talk about the People’s National Party whenever the issue of crime and terror is being debated.That party has done immeasurable harm to our country which should disqualify that party from representational politics in my opinion. The labor party should know better.….
Andrew Holness
With the terrifying murder statistics and the turning of popular opinion on INDECOM Andrew Holness is singing a different tune, and has recently called for a revising of the INDECOM Act. This writer has written dozens if not hundreds of articles in this medium as well as in other mediums in which I have laid out that the JCF must have oversight but INDECOM is not that oversight.
INDECOM from the outset through it’s commissioner Terrence Williams and Assistant Commissioner Hamish Campbell, set a confrontational anti-police agenda. That agenda was evidenced through INDECOM’S principals sharing platforms with anti police agitators and lobbyists like JFJ, the IACHR, FAST to name a few. Contrary to it’s mandate to re-actively investigate allegations of abuse by the Military,Police and Correction’s Departments, as well as cases in which these entities use force as part of their daily routine , INDECOM’s principals turned the agency into a an anti-police , anti-military lobby.
On that basis alone ‚not only should Williams,Campbell and others from INDECOM who attended the conferences with those anti-police lobby groups be fired at the time , the Act should have been revisited at that time. The Police and Military protested at the time, yet Bruce Golding and his administration refused to correct this egregious travesty resulting in a mass exodus of good cops who saw the writing on the wall. The Government had established an agency to collaborate with forces against them .
Others took up the offer of early retirement , leaving behind a cadre of police impostors many of whom were only there for the little pay-check given the Island’s dismal job producing record. Degrees yes, motivated to go out and fight crime , No! Scenes of crime investigations which begin with full protocols of the process are only a charade which hardly result in murderers being brought to justice .
There is hardly any detective work being done outside the charade of the crime scene tapes and the guys in the long coats.… Sure we need the gathering of the scientific evidence but nothing replaces the need for good old fashioned police work through intelligence gathering. Police work in Jamaica has being reduced to people with a few years service smartly dressed in the uniform of seniority , sitting behind desks making inane statements. But whats the use of removing the killers from the streets if the ideologically liberal judges out of the Norman Manley Law just turns them loose?
There is a never ending parade of opinions and working papers on how to deal effectively with crime in our country. The vast majority of what I have seen and read seem to be about the writers sense of themselves rather than a comprehensive assessment of what exist and a radical approach on how to fix it.
Let me be clear, in order to build a sky-scraper with shiny glass windows and cool air-conditioned offices ‚the work of creating a design must be done. Then comes the hard work of digging deep into the earth to establish a foundation and in many cases several floors below ground. After the excavation is done then comes the hard work of laying concrete and steel , inch by inch .It is hard dirty work ‚but work which must be done if ever the workmen want to have that tower delivered to the owners.
So too is the issue of taking back our streets from the murderers and gangsters who control them, hard dirty work . Not everyone want to face those realities. It is necessary work which must be done. This requires police officers , not academics. Hands must get dirty . hundreds of the young men walking around Jamaica rubbing shoulders with law abiding Jamaicans have the blood of several people on their hands. We must never surrender to the idea that the sheer volume of murders is too great to bring the killers to justice,or bring justice to them , their choice.
There is no arriving at a prosperous and pleasant Jamaica using pleasantries and platitudes. The honest fact is that the dirty work of driving fear into criminals and putting murderers in jail and keeping them there, must begin if this issue is ever to be addressed successfully.
We can have truth and reconciliation after we have control , not before. I am not dissuaded by those who criticize my arguments they are exactly the arguments I expected to hear from murderers and supporters of murderers. We are never ever going to deal effectively with crime and terror by sweeping murder statistics under the carpet.
After 27 hours of deliberation, a jury of seven men and five women reached a verdict in Philando Castile’s death. Eight hours later, after a march in St. Paul, hundreds went on the freeway, where some faced off with police before 18 were arrested.
A jury found St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez not guilty Friday in the fatal shooting of Philando Castile, whose livestreamed death during a traffic stop stunned a nation.
Castile’s family called the decision proof of a dysfunctional criminal justice system, while prosecutors cautioned the public to respect the jury’s verdict “because that is the fundamental premise of the rule of law.”
“I am so disappointed in the state of Minnesota,” Castile’s mother, Valerie Castile, said at a news conference shortly after the verdict was read in court about 2:45 p.m. “My son loved this state. He had one tattoo on his body and it was of the Twin Cities — the state of Minnesota with TC on it. My son loved this city and this city killed my son. And the murderer gets away.”
Handful more protesters arrested as onlookers scream pleas of “Let them Go!”
Hours later, at the tail end of a protest march through the streets of St. Paul, hundreds of people headed out on Interstate 94 at Dale, shutting down the freeway. Over the course of about an hour, the crowd thinned out and was moved to a ramp near Marion before State Patrol officers moved in after 12:30 a.m. Saturday and began making 18 arrests. Among those arrested were reporters Susan Du of City Pages and David Clarey of the Minnesota Daily, who were covering the protest.
The decision came on the last day of a three-week trial in a case that had been closely watched ever since Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, livestreamed the brutal aftermath on Facebook.
The jury of five women and seven men reached its verdict after about 30 hours of deliberations over five days. They appeared stalled Wednesday, and were called into the courtroom and asked to continue deliberations. Juror Dennis Ploussard said the jury was deadlocked 10 for acquittal, two for conviction until Friday afternoon.
“This was very, very difficult for all of us,” Ploussard said Friday afternoon in an interview at his home. “This was a very, very trying case.” Ploussard declined to identify the holdouts but said they were not the two people of color on the jury.
St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez has been found not guilty of all counts in the fatal shooting of Philando Castile.
Defense attorney Earl Gray leaned over and squeezed Yanez’s shoulders after the first not guilty verdict was read for the manslaughter charge. After the last two not guilty verdicts were read for reckless discharge of a firearm, Valerie Castile stood up from the front-row seat she had occupied throughout the trial, yelled an expletive and walked past several deputies, breaking with strict orders issued minutes earlier by Ramsey County District Judge William H. Leary III that no one was to leave until after he ended the hearing.
Several of Castile’s supporters cried and filed out after Valerie Castile as about 13 sheriff’s deputies stood watch over the proceeding.
“Seven times!” one woman exclaimed, referring to the number of shots Yanez fired into Castile’s car. Five rounds struck Castile; two of them tore through his heart.
Jurors showed little reaction while the verdicts were read and were quickly escorted out a private side door. Yanez’s mother cried and hugged Gray before Yanez and his family were whisked away through the same door, eventually leaving in a van that departed from the courthouse’s nonpublic indoor garage.
Thomas Kelly, one of Yanez’s attorneys, said his client was vindicated by the jury’s decision.
“We’re not celebrating anything here because this was a tragedy and we’re mindful of that,” he said.
Shortly afterward, the city of St. Anthony issued a statement on its website saying it would no longer employ Yanez as a police officer.
“The City of St. Anthony has concluded that the public will be best served if Officer Yanez is no longer a police officer in our city,” the statement read. “The city intends to offer Officer Yanez a voluntary separation agreement to help him transition to another career.”
Kelly said he was unsure of Yanez’s future plans, but acknowledged “it might be difficult” were he to continue his job in St. Anthony.
“Because he has such a good reputation within the law enforcement community I’m sure if he wanted to find another department he would not have any difficulty,” Kelly said.
Reynolds did not attend the verdict reading, but her attorney, Larry Rogers, said she was “close by” and quickly informed of the verdict. She was devastated, he said.
“She lost somebody very important to her,” Rogers said. “Her life was in danger. Her daughter’s life was in danger. And this verdict says that’s OK.”
Reynolds, who testified at trial and attended closing arguments Monday, issued a written statement through Rogers’ office saying that Castile was following the officer’s orders to retrieve his driver’s license when he was killed.
“I am incredibly disappointed with the jury’s verdict,” Reynolds said. “…It is a sad state of affairs when this type of criminal conduct is condoned simply because Yanez is a policeman. God help America.”
Yanez was the first Minnesota police officer in modern history to be charged with shooting and killing a civilian. Eight months before Castile was killed, Jamar Clark, a 23-year-old black man, was fatally shot during a scuffle with two Minneapolis police officers who were not charged. His death sparked weeks of protest in north Minneapolis. Both cases were in a wave of high-profile police shootings of black men that created unrest across the country.
Yanez, 29, was acquitted of felony manslaughter and reckless discharge of a firearm for killing Castile, 32, July 6 in Falcon Heights, and endangering his passengers, Reynolds, and her daughter, then 4. Reynolds’ Facebook Live video of Castile’s death captured worldwide attention.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety and Ramsey County Attorney John Choi’s office declined Friday to release squad dashcam footage of the shooting but said it could be available within a week.
The U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Minnesota, which designated federal prosecutor Jeffrey Paulsen to assist with the case, issued a statement Friday saying they are “assessing whether any additional federal review is justified.”
Prosecutors argued that Yanez, who is Mexican-American, racially profiled Castile, a black man, when he stopped him for a nonworking brake light. Yanez testified that he also wanted to investigate whether Castile was a suspect in the armed robbery of a nearby convenience store four days earlier. Castile was never connected to the robbery.
Yesterday I talked about the role women play in Jamaica’s crime culture. It wasn’t my first article on this phenomenon. Over the years I have sought to add some context to the dynamic, of the every evolving crime cancer which has taken over our country.
Most Jamaicans will recall when crime discussions were centered around Kingston , parts of St. Andrew and parts of St. Catherine and to a lesser extent St Thomas. Today, once sleepy parishes like Portland and Hanover are ground zero of gang activity ‚resulting in number of deaths once unimaginable.
HOWDOWEAPPROACHTHIS ?
So we are where we are , we cannot nostalgically wish away our present reality. What do we do in resolving this issue ? We begin by divorcing ourselves from the misguided thinking that if we give everyone a job they will put away the guns and become good law abiding citizens.
To begin with the young men and women who have these high powered weapons have already tasted the power these weapons of death gives them over others. There is no going back from that adrenaline rush. Many have the blood of several murdered people on their hands, that to them is the ultimate power rush. There is no scenario in which we can pacify crime in today’s world without a show of strength and force. That the country is focused on so called human rights abuse potentially meted out to blood thirsty killers over the rights of crime victims is ludicrous.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness came to power talking about INDECOM is here to stay . He never missed an opportunity to tell everyone that hard nosed policing does not work , of course he never produces an iota of evidence to back up his theory. During the 70’s murders got out of hand under the PNP Admistration of Michael Manley , culminating in the death of over 800 Jamaicans by the 1980 general elections.
By the time Edward Seaga took over and empowered the security forces to act murders trended downward , even with the lack of resources we encountered. Crime is not an abstract concept which is treated with a one size fit all Utopian treatment. By the tie I left the police force in 91 after a mere 10 years , murders were hovering between 400 ‑500 annually. By the time Percival James Patterson was finished destroying the police force in 2005 homicides were up to 1600. That’s an over 200% increase in the space of less than a decade and a half.
The Jamaican Prime Minister a student of the liberal University of the West Indies comes to leadership with the tired old Utopian concepts he gathered there. Those teachings prevail upon gullible recipients the nonsensical idea that being tolerant and kind to ruthless killers will turn them around. The evidence however points in the opposite direction , killers become more emboldened when they know they will not be held accountable. So the grand social engineering scheme cooked up by the Norman Manley law school, the Island’s trial lawyers and Jamaica’s elites including those in Jamaican’s for Justice has failed dismally. Now as the dead bodies pile up Andrew Holness is forced to recognize that the answer to the nation’s crime problem lies not in neutering the police but a 180 degree empowerment to go after the murderous mindless scums who take innocent life .
I am vindicated in the work I have personally put into trying to bring awareness to the fact that the INDECOM Act has had a chilling negative effect on crime fighting.” No INDECOM is not the only driver of crime on the Island but it is a very big part of it. So too is the incompetence of the leadership of the police department ‚the inept and incompetent courts system to name a few. I have encountered and absorbed countless ridicule and derision for daring to speak out against a law cooked up by elitists within the Jamaican society ‚which did not have a single word of input from law enforcement. I will as along as I am able, continue to do the work of trying to bring attention to how INDECOM and a narcissistic power hungry little bureaucrat is costing hundreds of lives each year.
My commitment to this cause is in no way an indication that I do not want oversight of the Police. If any police department needs oversight it is the JCF, nevertheless that oversight cannot be about show-boating and collaborating with outside lobby groups to militate against the police. The moment Terrence Williams joined Carolyn Gomes to openly condemn and criticize the police was the moment INDECOM should have undergone a review. That review should have begun with the firing of Terrence Williams.
That law enforcement input did not even have to come from Jamaican cops, since the Government has no regard for their point of view. It could have come from law enforcement in the United States, Britain or Canada . The Government of the day decided it did not want to hear from Police , so it came up with a piece of legislation which actually was not a law which does much toward rooting out dirty cops , it empowered criminals .
Now Andrew Holness just a few days after hamming it up at an INDECOM conference has turned around and stated that the INDECOM law needs review.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness
“Laws protect the innocent, laws must protect human rights, laws must never be in such a way that they can be used as a tool to protect criminals.” “We know that there are some very hardened criminals in our society, and they act in ways that confound us. The level of savagery that we see, sometimes we wonder where is the humanity. This state cannot sit by and allow this to continue. It erodes confidence. It creates a negative outlook,” “We have to find a way to ensure that our police are motivated, that they are willing to go out there without worry that after they try to do the right thing, they end up on the wrong side of the law.”
These statements came out of the mouth of Andrew Holness , but for all intents and purposes it may have been the words of a smarter Holness. Juilet Holness. Mrs Holness has stated categorically that she heard from cops on the ground , the effects INDECOM is having on law enforcement. Her husband on the hand has chosen to parrot the elitist point of view .
What has changed? A lot of dead bodies.
Even if Jamaica was to continue massaging , cajoling and bowing to criminals , the killers would not stop killing we have evidence of that . That is the present strategy and it is not working . In the end the very strategy of heavy handedness Andrew Holness seem to be repulsed by, will have to be employed to deal with the problem. As it was in 2010 so shall it be henceforth.
It makes no sense to argue that heavy handed policing of dangerous criminals has not worked when getting rid of name-brand cops and easing up on criminals has demonstrably showed a sharp and continuous increase in violent crimes. Crime is not static phenomenon, , there will always be crime so it’s silly to argue that certain policies hasn’t worked when the very policy of disengagement which the liberal elitists espouse have had disastrous consequences for the most exposed Jamaicans.
We must come to the realization that the concept of hard nosed policing is not in conflict with law abiding citizens. Fundamentally also is the disinformation being fed the public that hard nosed policing means abuse of citizens rights. I was a very hard nosed cop who had zero tolerance for crime , yet I was certainly not brutal, disrespectful or abusive of anyone’s rights. In fact my hard nosed policing earned me plaudits and respect across the board resulting in good intelligence which resulted in the removal of more dangerous criminals from the streets.
The level of effectiveness required to get the job done will not be done with the present crop of people in the force who are using the force as a place to relax. Earning a degree then joining the force just to get a job where they sit behind desks and give orders will do nothing to rectify the murder spree in progress. And it certainly will not do a damn thing to neutralize the demonic and depraved killers who roam the town and villages of Jamaica without fear of ever facing justice.
Over the years, one of the things associates and I have talked about, at least in this forum, is the role women play in the proliferation of crime in Jamaica.
An army going to war must first work out logistically how its troops will be supplied and resupplied with ammunition, food, medicine, hospital for the wounded, to name a few requirements. Without good logistical support, that army has almost zero chance of success.
These women from west Kingston pledged their undying support for crime lord Christopher Duddus Coke in 2010
Jamaican women have long made themselves that logistical supply line for the Island’s criminal men. By doing so, they have made themselves willing accessories before and after the fact and, in far too many cases, primary accomplices. It is no wonder that the criminal men have now turned their venom on the women who enabled them. But, unfortunately, these heinous killers have lost all connection with reality; as a result, not even children are being spared their blood-lust.
As a young beat cop, women would tell me to my face how handsome I was, but they wouldn’t date me because police did not make any money. Missa Beckles yu cute, but my man haffi teef and bring nuff money cum gi mi. These inner-city women would be adorned with gold trinkets from head to toe, and they weren’t shy about telling us that their men were thieves and had stolen the jewelry they were wearing. Jamaican women, regardless of their title, mothers, girlfriends, aunts, sisters, or whatever, are true supporters of the criminal conduct of their male associates.
Women march in support of crime lord in 2010
They shield the men from Police. They go out and demonstrate on their behalf. They lie about events whenever they are killed in a confrontation with the police. They give false affidavits and accounting of critical events to have effective police officers removed from certain areas, and the brain-dead police hierarchy never fails to fall for it. Area crime figures were never in doubt about the effectiveness of women in building and entrenching their criminal strongholds. On the contrary, they were always first on the demonstration lines claiming police murda di innocent yute who nu du nutten.
They block streets ad start fires.
They can be found in their numbers demonstrating and demanding the release of their dons… So it is not out of the ordinary that the very monsters they created would, in turn ‑turn on their creators. As a young officer at the CIB, I figured if I knew where certain known criminal’s mothers and girlfriends lived, I had a pretty good idea how to catch them when I needed to. I wasn’t wrong. If you believe in the power of karma, then you do understand that you reap that which you sow. For decades Jamaican women have offered themselves up as bulwarks of support for their murderous sons, boyfriends, and family members. Back in the day, women were out of bounds; even if the killers kicked in doors and killed the men, they would leave the women and children. All of that is history now; not even babies are spared. On the contrary, in most cases, the killers actively seek out women and children on whom to exact their murderous vengeance. Women and children are being slaughtered in alarming numbers, almost on par with their male counterparts. Tragically, the chickens have come home to roost. The blood-thirsty killers hyped up on drugs and empowered by the automatic weapons they possess make no distinction about who they kill. As the murder rampage continues with numbing yet alarming frequency, women continue to shield killers in their homes, and yes, they even take them into their bodies.
Mike Beckles is a former Police Detective, businessman, freelance writer, black achiever honoree, and creator of the blog mikebeckles.com.
Andrew Holness finally admits that INDECOM is having negative effect on crime in our Country. More to come .….
Prime Minister Andrew Holness has indicated a need to review the laws under which the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) operates.
Speaking at yesterday’s opening ceremony for the multilateral summit on ‘Combating Crime in an Interconnected World’, at the Jamaica Pegasus in New Kingston, the prime minister said that his Government had to find a way to strike a balance to ensure that the police are motivated, and that criminals don’t feel that they can use existing laws as a way to protect themselves.
“Laws protect the innocent, laws must protect human rights, laws must never be in such a way that they can be used as a tool to protect criminals,” he said.
The summit was attended by well-known crime fighters from across the region, including former New York police commissioner Raymond Kelly, and security and international coöperation advisor from Colombia, General Rosso Jose Serrano.
“We know that there are some very hardened criminals in our society, and they act in ways that confound us. The level of savagery that we see, sometimes we wonder where is the humanity. This state cannot sit by and allow this to continue. It erodes confidence. It creates a negative outlook,” Holness said.
“The State has to act, while we recognise the errors of the past. The State has to be focused, and targeted and strategic and driven by intelligence on the perpetrators,” he added.
He said the Government did not want to pull back on INDECOM, but clearly the commission and the legislation under which it operates needs to be reviewed, like any other new legislation, to ensure that it is not an obstacle to law enforcement.
“So, striking that balance is another political challenge that we have to address,” Holness said.
On Tuesday June 13th a Lancaster County Jury in the State of Pennsylvania returned a verdict of guilty on two counts of first degree murder against 40 year Jamaica National Leeton Thomas .
Thomas, convicted on his 40th birthday, faces a penalty hearing at 9 a.m. Wednesday at which the jury will sentence him to life in prison without parole or death by lethal injection.
According to Lancasteronline.com, the jury of six men and six women heard four days of testimony as the prosecution sought to portray Thomas, a father of four who had worked as a home re-modeler, as a homicidal monster bent on eliminating witnesses in his sexual molestation case.
Scheetz and daughter Hailey, attacked while watching a movie on Netflix, died quickly from horrendous stab wounds in the early hours of June 11, 2015, testimony established. State police found a basement window screen sliced and removed. As the East Drumore Township mother and two teen daughters were watching a Netflix movie late…A 15-year-old daughter survived multiple stab wounds. After the attacker fled, she told rescuers that Thomas, once a family friend, was the killer. “Look at him,” said Larsen, indicating Thomas. “He’s very distinctive. She knew exactly who he was. There’s no mistaking him.”
A native of Jamaica, Thomas is a black man of average height and weighing about 230 pounds. Larsen said Thomas broke into the apartment intent on getting rid of witnesses who were going to testify against him at a court hearing two weeks away. “This was nothing less than an assassination,” Larsen told the jury. “He went in there thinking he could wipe them all out.”
But Conrad said state police focused on Thomas, whose nickname was Pie, without investigating the possibility that a black neighbor who had a record of indecent assault could be the guilty party. The teen survivor “says it’s Mr. Pie, and everyone is supposed to believe it,” Conrad told the jury.
Clothing described
Throughout the trial, clothing worn by the attacker was a point of contention. Conrad emphasized that the survivor’s description of her attacker’s clothing did not match what investigators found soaking in bleach in Thomas’ home about an hour after the killing.
Prosecutor Larsen, in his closing, displayed the sweatshirt and sweatpants, saying the significant stains on each article show they were doused in bleach. More than two months after the slayings, police recovered black latex gloves and a face-hiding balaclava mask in the trap of a toilet pipe in the Conowingo Road home Thomas and his family were renting at the time of the slayings.
Conrad said Larsen didn’t ask the survivor detailed questions about what her attacker was wearing because he was afraid he wouldn’t like the answers. “She wasn’t able to get all those details,” Larsen conceded, “but, ladies and gentlemen, you heard what you needed to hear. She knows the people in her life, and she was able to tell you exactly who did this.”
Lights on
Larsen also leaned on a state trooper’s observation that lights were on in Thomas’ house at a time when Thomas’ wife, Donna, testified that they were both in bed. Larsen showed the jury the police cruiser’s dash cam video. He said the video showed a light on in the bathroom and the laundry room. The prosecutor also emphasized testimony by an expert that Hailey’s blood and DNA were on a man’s sneaker retrieved from the washer. Conrad contended that DNA labs make mistakes.
Larsen roamed the courtroom in his closing, displaying the suspected murder weapon only inches away from the jurors, walking over to Thomas to make a point and even sitting at the witness stand to evoke empathy for the teen survivor who had struggled to testify last week. “Imagine what is going through her mind as she is sitting here,” said Larsen, who made his summation without holding notes. Conrad, by contrast, often referred to a notepad and kept his distance from the jury.
Jury question
The jury got the case about 11:45 a.m. Tuesday after Reinaker instructed them on the law. Shortly before 2 p.m., the jury returned to the courtroom with a question about reasonable doubt and a request to view a diagram of the crime scene. In explaining reasonable doubt, Reinaker said the jury may not convict unless all 12 members conclude that the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. He allowed the jury to take the crime scene diagram into the deliberation room. About a half hour later, the jury informed the judge it had reached a verdict.
Mister Thomas was entitled to the presumption of innocence up to the time he was convicted in a court of law. Yes juries do make mistakes , Police and Prosecutors do act outside the law sometime for a variety of reasons, not the least of which are race and class.
Thomas’ attorney hinted at race as a factor , suggesting that state police targeted him because he was a black man . What was never challenged in a tangible way is the DNA evidence found on the pair of men’s shoes the police found in mister Thomas’ house. Suggesting that Labs make mistake is not a defense against irrefutable scientific evidence. Mister Thomas had motive ‚They were witnesses to sexual crimes he was alleged to have committed and were about to testify against him. Irrefutable DNA evidence was found in his house . Black latex gloves and a face-hiding balaclava mask were found in the trap of a toilet pipe where Thomas resided. And his state of mind after his arrest are all indicators of guilt.
Thomas told officers to shoot him knowing full well that the system of justice he was about to face was a far cry from that which exist in his native Jamaica, where witnesses are summarily slaughtered ending in case closed for lack of prosecution.
I chose to talk about this case not because of what Thomas did , or because he is a native of Jamaica . I chose to talk about this case because what Thomas allegedly told state troopers after he was arrested.
“Shoot me in my head” !!! Contrary to what anyone tells you , that was a shocking confession of guilt. An innocent person cannot wait to prove his innocence in a court of law, not wanting to take the easy way out and give up on their life. That is why many murderers who kill innocent people take their own lives on the approach of police in the United States.
For years I have spoken to the reasons Jamaica has such barbaric murderers. I have indicated all throughout that the reason these monsters kill is because they believe they will never be held accountable. Leeton Thomas knew he was not going to subvert the court system, he knew after his arrest that the gig was up , and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that once convicted he would never see the streets again.
Those are the conditions which affect the minds of murderers when they take the lives of innocents, but are too bitch ‑ass cowards when it’s time to face the music. It was that knowledge that he would never see the streets again which caused former NFL payer Aaron Hernandez take his own life in prison.
That knowledge that they will be caught, and once caught they will never see the streets again ‚is the best deterrent against these monsters. Literally every day there is another bloody mass murder in Jamaica , or two or three . Despite the incessant shedding of innocent blood the Government’s response to it is a bill which is supposed to allow police more latitude to go after murderers,. The problem is that the bill is just that … a bill, not a law, . Mind you, even if passed, the would-be law, would allow law enforcement to cordon and search designated areas , as if that would do anything substantive about crime.
The laughable thing about the bill is that it is still held up awaiting input from trial lawyers, JFJ an anti-police lobby , The Norman Manley Law School , a liberal criminal coddling entity among other so called stake holders. A literal tale of two cities as it relates to crime .
For Leeton Thomas it is indeed the worst of times , and so it should be.
Listening to Peter Bunting and Jamaica’s would be Prime Minister Peter Phillips, I was convinced that the serious and never ending state of murder on the Island is not about to get better anytime soon.
The Island’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness has questions to answer on the galloping murder rate . Despite this, he has been ominously silent on the continued blood letting. Holness, in campaign mode, did promise that Jamaicans would be able to sleep with their doors open if his party was elected to replace the PNP. In fairness to him ‚the former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller never seemed to care about the murder statistics either , she never bothered to speak about them.
Peter Bunting is a man I am not opposed to. Of the bunch of silly little ideological demagogues running around with clenched fists dressed in orange clothing ‚and played out beret’s , he seem to be one of the more sane practitioners.
However listening to Peter Bunting it would be hard to imagine that just over a year ago he had the portfolio for national security. I recall it wasn’t too long ago that then minister Bunting , in utter exasperation was calling for divine intervention to the nation’s murder and terrorism statistics.
In the first instance Minister Bunting said his Party had stabilized the murder numbers around the 1100 mark, give or take 10 %. In the strange press conference , in which Peter Phillips kept butting in as Bunting addressed the issue, Phillips went on to make an even greater ass of himself by remarking that what is needed is not a legislative agenda which is designed to divert attention from the fact that there is no plan.
The fact of the matter is that there needs to be a vigorous legislative agenda with laws emanating which puts murderers in prison and keep them there for the rest of their lives.
The following is a press conference given by the PNP shadow minister of national security Peter Bunting of the opposition People’s National Party,(PNP) along with leader of the PNP Dr Peter Phillips .
Bunting rattled off statistics which he said indicated that the number of murders, 137 in the month of May was not seen after the entry of the security forces in the Garrison of Tivoli Gardens. This is critically important information which needs to be expounded upon with clarity . Peter Phillips , and the PNP and I daresay the Jamaican Labor Party Government still believe that the way to deal with crime is to soft pedal on crime.
The idea as far as they are concerned, is to beg, cajole, and throw money at crime . Phillips stated that the idea is to elicit opinions from the UWI, PMI, PSOJ, and others . The fact of the matter is that it was actors from these very same institutions that has gotten the country into this mess to begin with. It was these very far left liberal voices which told the country that the country must concentrate on human rights of criminals. INDECOM was born out of advocacy from JFJ, FAST, the Bar Ass, The Inter American Commission on Human Rights and the plethora of so called advocacy groups which militates on behalf of criminals while ordinary law abiding Jamaicans are left to fend for themselves.
Murders and other violent crimes did not go down because of someone waving a magic wand. They went down because the security forces put their boots on the necks of criminals, Period. Not because of a nonsensical strategy cooked up in the intellectual ghetto , not because of anything the criminal lawyers came up with , not because of the noise from the eat a food criminal rights crowd that Phillips is subscribing to. Murders went down because criminals caught a case of the shakes. When murderous gangsters know that certain police officers are coming after them they law low , real low.
Andrew Holness, PM
That’s what is missing from the equation in Jamaica today . Jamaica got way too bourgeoisie , . No one gave a rats ass about what law enforcement felt , they listened to the people up at the University of the West Indies and their other cliques on how crime should be addressed ‚. They converged in their silly little circles where they convinced themselves that their idiocy were actually good policy. Peter Phillips wants to double down on stupid.
The shit has now hit the fan and it’s only going to get much worse . They had tough , hard working cops and they sabotaged them . many walked away , the others retired early. The JCF is a huge paper tiger with no teeth. Hold onto your seats …
The suspect for the shooting at a congressional baseball practice on Wednesday has been identified as James T. Hodgkinson, a home inspector from Illinois.
The Washington Post first identified the 66-year-old Belleville resident as the suspect who fired at a practice in Alexandria, Va., injuring five people.
Police did not immediately reveal a motive for the shooting.
James T. Hodgkinson.
(FACEBOOK)
Hodgkinson ran a home inspection business, JTH Inspections, in Belleville. He left that job at the end of 2016, according to his Facebook page.
”That is not my quote.” Sorry, Ben Sasse, but it is.
When Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse was seeking to distinguish himself in a crowded Republican primary field three years ago, he took aim at a familiar punching bag: the Affordable Care Act. In a memorable introductory campaign ad (in which he also proposed moving the Capitol to Nebraska), Sasse said, “Look, Obamacare is arguably the worst law in our history.”
So on Monday, as Senate Republicans deliberated on a secret bill that would repeal the Affordable Care Act, I was surprised to hear Sasse deny he ever said that. Sasse, who I profiled in the magazine last summer, was speaking to KQEDradio host Michael Krasny as part of the press tour for his new book, The Vanishing American Adult, a surprise bestseller.
Things took a strange turn over the weekend in the battle over the future of various monuments to the treacherous, slave-owning Confederacy. Hundreds of people, many of them carrying Confederate flags, turned out to Hermann Park in Houston on Saturday to protest efforts to tear down the park’s monument to Sam Houston, a former governor of Texas and a general in the Texas Revolution.
“Antifa has come out saying they will be bringing several large (communist) groups together to host a rally around the Museum District in Houston, Texas on June 10, 2017,” read a post at the Facebook page for the right-wing This Is Texas group. “This list includes Black Panther Party, Antifa & more.”
The problem? There were no efforts to tear down the statue of Houston. This was a hoax. It appears that an alt-right hoaxer pretended to be a leftist online to perpetuate a fake news story claiming that a group of left-leaning activists were going to arrive at the park to demand that the statue of Houston be torn down.
That it was a hoax should have been obvious from the event page at This Is Texas, which alleges that leftists were making threats like, “Texans better not show up or they will limp home bruised, broken, hurt, with their tail between their legs.” There’s absolutely no way a Texas-based leftist organization would share the This Is Texas assumption that the category “Texans” refers exclusively to white, conservative fans of Confederate monuments.
Watching a bunch of gun-toting wannabe tough guys skulk around Hermann Park, angry about nonexistent threats to a statue most of them have never really thought about before, presents a grand opportunity for liberal mockery. Beyond that, this entire story offers an excellent illustration of why exactly fake news is so appealing — and why right-wingers are willing to stand by blatantly false stories even when it gives their liberal opponents an opportunity to mock them for being stupid and gullible.
At the moment, it seems that the folks behind the pro-statute protest are unwilling to admit that they were taken in by a hoax. On the Facebook page for This Is Texas, right-wing activists are denying that it was a hoax and spreading rumors that antifa protesters were spotted in a bathroom. Many of the right-wing protesters are suggesting that “antifa” protesters were planning to arrive but then were scared off by the right-wingers with their guns and Confederate flags.
The level of defensiveness on display makes it clear that the right-wing protesters aren’t particularly happy with being laughed at. So why bother going to the rally, amid a swirl of rumors that it’s a hoax? And why on Earth would anyone continue defending it after the fact, knowing that doing so just means inviting such painful mockery?
The grim answer is that it’s better than the alternative — right-wing protesters’ having to admit that they just wanted to hold a white nationalist rally and were willing to seize any opportunity to do so, no matter how threadbare.
The pro-Sam Houston protesters openly linked their event to efforts across the country to protect monuments to the Confederacy, activities defended on the grounds of “history” and “heritage.” (This Is Texas’ event page claims, “Many of these communist punks are embolden [sic] after they lay claim to a win in New Orleans by bringing down the Confederate monuments.”) But what the stalwart defenders of Texas’ Confederate heritage don’t seem to grasp is that Sam Houston flatly opposed Texas‘ joining the Confederacy and was ousted from the governor’s office for his resistance.
Yet while Houston opposed the Confederacy, he was a slave owner and that fact was cited by the online hoaxer as the reason imaginary antifa protesters wanted to take down the statue.
None of this has anything to do with Sam Houston or his legacy, except maybe the part where he owned slaves. It was all clearly just a pretext for a bunch of backward-looking white nationalist types to hold a rally. Which kind of puts protesters in a pickle. To admit that the story about antifas attacking the statue was a hoax is to admit that they were just using the Houston statue as a pretext. Rather than admit that, they would prefer to flail around like fools, denying that this was a hoax or that it even matters whether the original story was true.
We sometimes look at our Parliamentary democratic system in Jamaica and say we do have a great system. But do we? It’s difficult to argue with most Jamaicans who live at home, particularly those whom have never traveled outside the country that we don’t have the best system in the world.
There is a sense among us Jamaicans that our patriotism is tied to the fact we live on the Island, or may have left and returned for whatever reason. Even those whom have had a one way flight back home , preach their undying patriotism as if where they are forcibly domiciled now, is a function of their own doing.
The truth is that our system is patterned off the British Monarchistic system, and still today has the British Monarch as the titular head of our Government, even though we derive no real measurable benefit from the retention of our Colonial Rulers as head of our Government.
WHEREAM I GOINGWITHTHIS ?
The Jamaican Government just made the decision not to create oversight which would oversee the seven year old Agency INDECOM created under the Bruce Golding administration. The Government of Andrew Holness misses no opportunity to tell Jamaicans that the INDECOM Act is an act of Parliament and as such it is going nowhere.
At the risk of sounding flippant ‚I agree with that perspective, just that I see the Agency going nowhere from a different perspective. Did the Government make the decision not to have oversight of INDECOM or did that decision come from a single individual , Andrew Holness? The Gold standard of accountability people look at the world over is the American system of checks and balances . If the intention of the Government is to create situations in which best practices are adhered to , we must ask why INDECOM is immune from oversight?
The committee of the Parliament which has responsibility for oversight of INDECOM struggles mightily just to get it’s full membership to attend committee hearings, much less to mount meaningful oversight of an agency which has outside support and is rapidly becoming an out of control behemoth in my opinion.
In response to the Police Federation’s complaints that INDECOM is operating without oversight , Terrence Williams, INDECOM’s commissioner asserts that his agency does have oversight in the person of a retired high court judge. Strangely it appears that no one outside of Williams and Andrew Holness is aware of this overseer.
Terrence Williams alleges that this single overseer has been empowered for over two years and since then there has been not one report against INDECOM. Could it be that the reason for that is that no one knows about this person?
So I placed a call to INDECOM, and spoke to public relations officer Ms Andersonwho assured me that the police were made aware through written communiques at the time retired high court Judge Mrs Marjorie Cole-Smithwas appointed to head the committee which would oversee her agency .
She was unable to provide me with a contact number for Mrs Cole-Smith , but she asserted that the Police also has the right to judicial review under the law which if they have complaints against INDECOM. Of course the initial complaint would have to be made to INDECOM before they, or any other agency or individual would have remedy through the prescribed review.
I inquired of her whether there wasn’t a bit of hypocrisy in that process , since the whole premise of INDECOM was that reporting to police in order to have a positive outcome was problematic. She indicated she did not see it, as the concerns weren’t about to whom reports were made , but the outcome of said reports of police improprieties.
I would have liked to debunk that notion using INDECOM’s own statistics as well as statistics which existed before INDECOM, but I though that conversation would be better directed at Terrence Williams. Ms Anderson told me she has no idea why the Police Federation would not know about these avenues of complaint available to them.
So who is telling the truth? Only one way to find out. I called the Police Federation and asked to speak to Sgt Wilson, or anyone who could shed some light on whether the Federation was aware of the avenues open to it’s members in the event they have complaints against INDECOM. The person who answered the phone (a non JCF staff member) took my number and assured me Wilson would get back to me as the entire staff was at a meeting.
As the dead bodies pile up the police need to know when they go out to do their jobs they have the full backing of their civilian bosses. That is the way it works , except in Jamaica where the direction seem to be less and less support for law enforcement officers. If this body to investigate complaints against INDECOM does exist , how could the police not know about it? How come INDECOM was unable to furnish me with a contact number to this oversight person? And so we are left with more question than answers as to where the truth lies in all of this.
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