Sixteen hundred and sixteen (1616) is the number of people which were reportedly killed unlawfully in Jamaica last year.
There are many who believe that the number of people murdered last year was far higher than that which has been reported to the police.
That extraordinary number though frightening does not tell the whole story, as many people who did not die immediately from being shot may have died later. Scores of others have been shot and have not died.
The Editorial of the JamaicadailyGleaner.com today spoke to the killings and the political consensus which is needed to fight this monster.
This writer has been making that very point for years, even as crime continues to escalate year over year with the exception of 2010.
THE POLICE
The prevailing narrative in this debate today is that crime cannot be dealt with using force.The irony of that nonsense is that the killers are using violence, force, and intimidation, while their lobby the criminal rights community convinces the nation’s leadership that these scumbags must be handled with baby soft soap and talcum powder.
This talking point has dominated the debate for so long and without pushback that even the members of the Police department have accepted this bullshit as gospel.
We now have a senior command structure within the JCF which fundamentally believe all they have to do is show up and talk. That lunatic concept of pacifying criminals now hold sway instead of an adherence to their sworn oath to uphold the laws.
One officer told me a couple of days ago the thing with the hierarchy is now about who has more degrees than the other.
And so the question arises as to what was the catalyst for the precipitous drop in crime in 2010?
There were 1,682 reported murders in 2009, Since 2011 the murder rate has continued to fall following the downward trend started in 2010, with increases in police patrols, curfews, and more effective anti-gang activities. In 2012, the Ministry of National Security reported a 30 percent decrease in murders.
In 2010 there were 1,428 a full 254 Jamaicans were allowed to continue on with their God-given lives over the preceding year of 2009.
Since nothing trends down in Jamaica except the people’s standard of living, it begs the question, what event precipitated that drop in homicides?
What event continued on through 2012 resulting in a 30% drop from the year 2009?
Glad you asked.
It was the forceful expulsion of gangsters from Tivoli Gardens and the ultimate expulsion of Christopher Dududs Coke from that enclave to stand trial in the United States on transnational criminal charges.
Nothing gets criminals running and hiding than the threat, better yet, physical force to their persons.
The idea that in these crucial times we are going to make an impact on the operations of callous murderous without brute force is an illogical pile of horse shit.
Far too many in senior levels of the force are comfortable in their khaki tan monkey suits, strutting around with the ridiculous swagger-canes than be dressed for operationally performing policing duties.
If this bunch is forced to tender their resignations and reapply for their jobs it would be interesting to see how many would qualify for the jobs they hold to a qualified panel of real policing experts.
POLITICIANS
The Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) and People’s National Party(PNP) have a responsibility to our country. The role of political parties has been described this way.
Political parties perform an important task in government. They bring people together to achieve control of the government, develop policies favorable to their interests or the groups that support them, and organize and persuade voters to elect their candidates to office.
If the foregone is true then the two main political parties in Jamaica have a responsibility to the people of the country to move now to form a coalition of common cause, to let it be known that this lawlessness will not stand.
That common cause cannot be mere words but a demonstrable commitment not to engage in criminal behavior.
No support, succor, or help to anyone engaged in criminal conduct. The 63 constituencies across the Island must be free from the belief that criminals can find sanctuary with the backing of politicians.
No politician own any constituency, as such the piss-ass criminals who represent these constituencies under the belief that those areas are their private fiefdoms must come to an end.
Any politician who continues to show an inclination to be deferential to criminals or in any way move to hamper or obstruct the work of law enforcement must be removed by the political party or by some other more decisive means.
We can no longer have no-go communities anywhere in the 4’411 square miles which is Jamaica.
We must have a country of laws in which Andrew Holness and Peter Phillips are handcuffed and carted off to jail if they dare intervene in police operations.
We cannot continue to have incidents like the one we witnessed in Boscobel in which a so-called don a common piece of shit is killed and law-abiding citizens are forced to sit in their cars because the criminal coddling cretins who support the punk decides to wreak anarchy while the police stand by helplessly and haplessly.
The Prime Minister cannot remain silent as if someone else is in charge of the country. His number one responsibility is the security of the nation.
The leader of the opposition and his party cannot continue to play politics with crime and sit there chomping at the bit hoping to ride to office on the high crime wave.Where is the sense of country over self, where is the sense of duty, where is the commitment to leave a better country than the one you all inherited?
These are the components which are required to put a stop to this madness once and for all. If the politicians are unwilling to act the people will be forced to act and the political class will recieve a very rude awakening.