Before we delve into what is or isn’t working let’s give thanks to Almighty God and to the hard-working unappreciated men and women of the JCF and the JDF for the 18% reduction in homicides this year against last year’s numbers.
Last year the police reported that 1617 Jamaicans were murdered over the course of the year. If the present trend holds it means that a calculated 291 fewer Jamaicans will be killed this year. That is reason to celebrate!
ATTRIBUTION
In the same way that 1617 people were slaughtered last year it is reasonable to conclude that there are readily identifiable reasons which thus far this year has caused fewer people to lose their lives.
The state of emergency in parts of St. James and St. Catherine has seen a dramatic reduction in crime, not just homicides but other major crimes as well.
Though commendable, it is important to recognize that the benefits derived from the state of emergency declared and enforced in those areas is not a sustainable strategy for the long run.
The Jamaican daily, (Jamaica-gleaner.com) Editorialized that fact arguing that “limits are placed on citizens’ rights and that their communities are under watch by large numbers of police and soldiers”.
Ahh yeah, that is generally what a state of emergency is.
I have no quarrel with the idea of the unsustainability of the emergency powers given to the security forces. But of course, the Editors of that daily newspaper cannot make a sensible statement without acting like a cow which gives a pail of milk and then turns around and kicks it over.
Pomposity, grandiosity and pure [bull-shit-tery] always take over with these folks.
“States of public emergency, with their impingement of constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights and freedoms, were not intended to be long-term policing tools in democratic societies, but short-term responses to security threats. In that regard, we question the sustainability of the existing ones. Further, with less than five percent of the well over 2,000 people detained in St James not charged for any crime, it is moot whether it is the state of emergency per se or the heightened presence of the security forces, that is responsible for the decline in killings”.
It is always the obnoxious nature of these editorials which gets me upset. Of course, we all agree that states of emergencies are not long-term, not sustainable but for God’s sake why are you talking about “long-term policing tools in democratic societies, but short-term responses to security threats”.
Should the Government not do something about the bloodshed? The state of emergency declared in St James and St Catherine are exactly short-term responses to the threats residents faced.
Would the editorial board of the Gleaner be more comfortable with 18% more Jamaicans killed in order to maintain a façade of a democratic society?
I suggest that the Gleaner editors take a first aid class where they will learn the procedures and protocols of treating a casualty. If there is bleeding stop the bleeding where possible, make the casualty comfortable, reassure the casualty, get the casualty to a hospital.
The Government has stopped some of the bleedings in some of the more violent communities, (hence the drop in homicides). Talk to some of the people in those areas, based on their past experiences and they are ecstatic that the security forces are visible in their communities.
Look, I am not one who believes that the show of force in high-risk communities is a sustainable policing strategy. Nevertheless, I believe that over the span of a year the idea of 291 fewer dead Jamaicans is not such a bad idea.
As I have stated in previous articles, there is no way that the elites, including those at the Gleaner and the fake upper crust of the society, would give a police officer who came up through the ranks the leverage and deference given Antony Anderson.
Anderson spent his life in the military, a military which has never seen a war of any kind, yet he attained the rank of major general without any battle experience.
Nevertheless, the idea that he was qualified to be commissioner of police for Jamaica based on his bona fides, impressive though they are, was as laughable as the prospect of a reality TV star becoming a competent President of the United States.
The Gleaner’s shock that Antony Anderson is deathly silent on any strategic crime policy (outside of the implementation of the state of emergency) is really laughable if they weren’t so pathetic. They were all clamoring for him to be named commissioner of police because of course, he has a certain skill-set.
He cannot formulate strategies in areas in which he has no expertise. Being commissioner of police requires policing and legal know-how. No, the fact that one has a certain skillset does not give that person expertise in all disciplines.
Anderson is learning on the job and as such, the nation will have to be satisfied with what it gets. In the meantime, we pray for the police officers and soldiers who are putting their bodies between the anarchists and the public.
We pray for the innocent people who are denied credible and professional service based on our country’s stubborn insistence on pretending it is a developed country.
Thanks to those who continue to do the heavy lifting against the counterproductive unveiling of murals honoring criminals.
Thank you for your service, even though many absolutely do not deserve it.