Murder in Jamaica is a way of life. Over the last several years Jamaica averages approximately 2.5 homicides per day.
With a population of 2.7 Million the chances of getting killed at any given time is a real cause of dread for the average Jamaican. The likely-hood of getting killed increases dramatically if you are a returning resident, or if someone gets the idea that you have a few dollars in your pockets.
Contract Killings are not investigated properly, even on the rare occasion a Principal trigger-man is held accountable. This leaves the brains behind the scenes to go ahead and kill without consequence.
It is now time to enhance the process by allowing deals with low-level criminals if they coöperate with Investigators and Prosecutors.
Merely robbing a victim is not enough, in many cases people are killed even when they comply with demands to hand over their property. Killing victims is the norm merely par for the course, or just for the hell of it.
A new Police Commissioner was recently appointed in the person of Carl Williams a PhD. We salute Williams and wish him the best even as we are mindful that merely putting Willimas a superbly educated individual in charge will do very little to Curb crime.
It is great to see a PhD heading the JCF,not because I believe it makes much difference in the effectiveness of the Department. But that it silences the Island Nation’s Bourgeoisie. At least Williams will be heard , Jamaicans are heavily invested in Titles.
William Bratton who heads the NYPD the World’s largest Police Department of 46,000 Officers does not have a PhD .
In fact, neither is Chief of Department Phillip Banks, though he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Lincoln University, and is a 2001 graduate of the Police Management Institute at Columbia University, and also attended Harvard University.
My point is, it hardly is how well educated the Top tier of a Police Department is. It never was. It is about a few other things.
(1 A decided mindset that Crime will not be tolerated, nurtured, or supported.
(2 Passing laws which puts criminals in Prison and keep them there.
(3 Supporting Law Enforcement Officers in the Lawful Execution of their duties. While making it clear that abuse of Power and criminal conduct will not be tolerated.
(4 Ensuring that Politics has no part in Law Enforcement.
(5 Improving the Criminal Justice System.
(6 Eliminating bases of support for criminal conduct by attaching serious penalties for those who aid and abet criminals. No distinction should be made between those who are Principals and those who aid and abet.
(7 Train, equip, and pay Officers,while holding them accountable.
Jamaican streets continue to run red with the blood of the innocent. The killings continue because criminals know they will get away with it when they kill. Even when they are known fear prevents anyone from coming forward. This brings up another requirement. Police can no longer depend on eyewitnesses to solve crime. Eyewitness accounts , once thought to be infallible is now proven to be fallible. We must improve our Scientific approach to Crime Fighting.
The Government is complicit, at least by default, when it does not do enough to bring callous murderers and Rapists to Justice. For over four decades this mentality has been the norm. Zones of Political Exclusions were created with a view to keeping one Party or the other in Power. Those Zones of Political Exclusions are also Zones of Refuge for known Criminals.
Until this practice is stopped and Law Enforcement has a free hand to do it’s job, Jamaica will remain in the top five most likely place to get yourself killed.