A few days ago we took the liberty to comment on year-end crime statistics supplied by Jamaican law-enforcement and trumpeted by the country’s national security minister..
Authorities informed the country, Murders dropped 16 per cent, shootings were down 12 per cent, rape had fallen by 23 per cent and aggravated assault by 17 per cent. Of note is the fact that Police killings have dropped a precipitous 54% against the last corresponding period See: https://mikebeckles.com/16-reduction-in-murder-rate-commendable-yet/
As we celebrated the fact that over 250 less Jamaicans were murdered than the last corresponding period , we cautioned on January 3rd that we did not necessarily see lower crime numbers as a trend .
Reason being , despite the efforts of the Minister, and the police with the help of the military to undertake certain community outreach programs and raids, we did not see anything new which would lend itself to a sustainable drop in crime. In fact we warned that we may yet see a dramatic spike in crime because there is no proven formula coming from law enforcement which can be directly proven to decreasing crime. Coupled with the anemic economy and downward pressure on lotto scammers , we believed then and now the environment is rife for a massive spike in criminality in the country.
The fact of the matter is that insofar as the JCF is concerned it appears lower crime numbers are purely a function of luck.
Don’t get me wrong I am all for luck keeping 256 more people alive. What we are saying is simply that we have to find more scientific and pragmatic ways to keep more people alive, prevent more women from getting raped, prevent more people from getting shot and across the board reduce and eliminate lawlessness.
As if to show authorities that they are powerless to stop crime, Jamaican criminals are on a tear , killing a reported 21 people over the first 6 days of the new year. Those reported killed may not necessarily be the only people murdered. That represents only those which are reported to authorities. At this pace the country is once again on pace to see roughly 1,300 citizens slaughtered by year end. Poof there goes the 16% reduction in murders.
The JCF has at it’s head now a PhD , many of the senior command structure have undergraduate and graduate degrees. We were once told this was needed to keep crime under control.
We too believed the caliber of people being recruited into the JCF had to improve. We believed training needed to be more reflective of the sophistication of criminals and should be ongoing. We believed that the primacy of the Agency’s push should be (1 Community Policing and (2 an effective Criminal Investigations Branch, which would work hand-in-hand with community policing.
Simply put, gaining the trust of communities creates intelligence streams which places criminals in jeopardy. When people are afraid of being caught they think twice about committing crimes.
Fewer crimes, lower numbers. Those who do commit crimes would have to deal with the reality of knowing they will be held accountable. Again, less crime because more people are held accountable for their actions.
Crime will not be reduced from 103 old hope road. It will depend on a commitment from whichever administration is in power. It will depend on that administration having an understanding that crime eats away at the standard of living of it’s people. It requires an administration which is itself above board, not steeped in corruption.
More than anything else it requires an intelligent leader who understand that constructive criticism and advice is not an invitation to engage in brawls befitting of viragoes in Kingston 13 tenements.
It requires a leader who is not merely concerned with being prime minister, blissfully un-nerved as Rome burns.
It requires leaders with the basic understanding that crime chases away investors.
As long as Jamaicans continue to elect and re-elect old-style garrison thugs to the parliament then they must be prepared to continue to wash away the blood.