Commissioner of Police Dr Carl Williams recently expressed shock and outrage at the recent upsurge of murders in the Parish of Saint James , culminating in two separate double murders just over the preceding Easter weekend.
Speaking on the issue the Commissioner said ” “l am shocked and outraged at the senseless killings that have resumed in Montego Bay and the surrounding areas. And I am here today (Saturday) to visit the locations and sit with the police officers to see how well their strategies are working, and to work with them to devise even more efficient and effective strategies so that we can properly curtail murders in this division,”
COMMISH VOWS NEW ATTACK ON BLOOD-DRENCHED ST JAMES DIVISION
I am a little confused at the Commissioner’s use of the word “resumed” I don’t believe any Jamaican believe killings had subsided anywhere in Jamaica. I stand to be corrected on this maybe I’m wrong or the JCF and the Commissioner has a high water mark which he and his department view as tolerable or permissible even., Anything above that water mark would then be seen as a resumption in the Commish’s mind.
In response to the commissioner’s statements about the upsurge of murders in the second city I wrote yesterday challenging the notion that there is even a serious plan afoot in Jamaica to counter the scourge of homicides and other felonies.
RUSHING TO PUT OUT FIRES IS NOT A PLAN TO ERADICATE CRIME.
In the Article I detailed what I believe are clear signs that the issue of serious crimes are not being addressed with the seriousness and dispatch necessary to put a dent in it. I totally understand that the Commissioner of Police and his department are literally working with hands tied behind their backs. The (indecom) Act is a very good example of the shackles the police are forced to work with even as they do their jobs in one of the most violent , least educated, anti law-enforcement nation on earth.
A day later new information coming out of the JCF seem to confirm what I articulated just yesterday. In a release which seeks to show that the JCF is on the ball carried in this medium but emanating from Jamaican media the JCF’s Corporate Communications Unit said it’s recently launched “Operation Tidal Wave” has been reaping success.
SEE STORY HERE:
The Jamaica Constabulary Force’s (JCF) recently launched operation ‘Tidal Wave’ has reportedly been reaping success.
Tidal Wave started after the JCF concluded its three-year crime fighting strategy, Operation Resilience on March 18, to make way for this new operational phase, which will see a surge in policing activities across the island for the next three months. According to the JCF’s Corporate Communications Unit, since the launch of the initiative, four persons have been arrested and charged for Operation ‘Tidal Wave’ Reaping Success, Says JCF Larceny, 65 Farm Watch meetings have been held and the Police have visited 12 abattoirs.
Additionally, 273 persons have been charged for various offences and four wanted persons were held. During the same period, 15 firearms, 96 assorted rounds of ammunition and 517 offensive weapons were seized. In addition, over 95,000 searches – including premises, vehicles and persons – were carried out, while $200,000 and US$50,000 and cash in other currencies were seized. A total of 598.5 pounds of ganja, with an estimated street value of approximately J$3 million was also seized along with, five pounds of cocaine. One point five acres of ganja has been destroyed. Police/citizen relations have also been targeted under the initiative. Since the start of the initiative there have been 14 widely publicized meetings, 245 Neighborhood Watch meetings and 208 Domestic Dispute Interventions.
I may be way too cynical but isn’t all of this simple police ‑work? Isn’t this what Police do everyday ? Why is there a special Operational initiative to get these simple things done.
Set aside the chit-chat, this seem like an average day of policing for Dadrick Henry and myself, or something Mikey Scott and his team would do in Half-Way-Tree, or Laing and his team in Admiral Town, and the list goes on and on . I wonder why there has to be a surge in policing activities?
Additionally if the surge is reaping rewards why is the surge not the norm. If something is working why would the JCF announce that it plans to end it after three months?
It would be of some value if the Commissioner tell the nation what those officers which make up the surge will be reverting to once the three months surge is over.
I love the Police Department and I want to see it succeed. To some degree I want to see it succeed because in a way the JCF has been an alma mater of sorts for me or at least one of them.
But I believe that any reasonable person looking at the release above will arrive at the reasonable conclusion that there is no there there.
Based on what’s in the release the JCF has no real strategy with which to attack serious crimes with any sustained effort.
At a time when Terrorism has reared it’s ugly head across the globe , in once peaceful nations it is incredibly important that the JCF puts it’s big boy pants on a cut out the bull.
The department can learn a lot from what is happening in other countries so that when Jamaica’s time comes it will at least have a semblance of an idea what to do.
Those who served the department but are locked in the past defaulting to the arguments that the force cannot do better are best where they are today in the also served column, like myself.
The department seem to have retained nothing from the lessons of 2010. Terrorism will come to Jamaica , it’s not a question of if , it’s a question of when.
The Department can do much better despite the myriad constraints.
It can train it’s officers better .
It can supervise them better.
It can deploy them better.
It can support them better.
And it damn sure can strategize better .…