Gleaner photo…
“We don’t have a switch to turn off crime … . The strategies we are putting in place will take some time to bear fruit, but we are working with the greatest speed and alacrity to ensure the results bear fruit,”. “There is a need for legislative reform to empower our police — and military in support of the police — legislation that is relevant and applicable to the crime situation we face.
Those words were uttered by Jamaica’s Prime Minister who is also the Minister of defense according to the Island’s constitution. The Prime Minister has my sympathy, not because of any political allegiance but because he has a full plate . He has an agenda which he ran on to turn around the lives of the 2.8 million Jamaicans. His mantra being from poverty to prosperity.
Gleaner photo.
The Prime Minister has a full plate unlike his predecessor who seemed to have delegated all of her core functions to minions whom were largely interested only in stuffing their pockets with the contents of the till.
Nevertheless , the Prime Minister has a duty despite his many other functions to address the Nation’s galloping murder rate. It seem that with the best efforts of the security forces and the relatively inane leadership of his National security Minister no one has any idea how to stop the bleeding literally.
When The Police Are Constrained Crime Increases Placing The Lives Of Everyone In Jeopardy
On Monday someone asked me on a social media platform what I would do differently if it was my job to bring crime to manageable levels. I had no time to respond in a way which would have made sense on that platform given the time I had. So I referred him to my website, I did so not because I needed the hits but because over the years I have articulated a raft of ideas which must be addressed if we are to gain control of crime.
https://mikebeckles.com/revampre-do-re-authorize-indecom/
Many critics have said some of my proposals cannot work because of Jamaican laws.
To those I ask who made the laws?
Most of the Nation’s laws were made at a time when people weren’t gunning down groups of people, or slitting the throats of infants.
They are archaic , outdated and they simply have no deterrent effect. They need to go.
There can be no place in the search for solutions where police are poorly trained, poorly supervised, poorly supported and are allowed to go out and kill people indiscriminately.
I have no interest in spending my time debating the foregone so I highlighted it just for that reason.
Many Jamaicans can harken back to the days when 300 homicides annually was a terrifying proposition for us . Today the small Island of 2.8 million people experience between 1000 and 1600 annually. Our police force had many problems not the least of which was Corruption♦ Poor-training♦ Poor supervision♦ Unlawful Political interference♦ Pathetic leadership♦ Poor remunerations♦ Lack of respect for our officers♦ Lack of respect for the rule of law and a range of other problems.
What the Island needed then was leadership and a decided policy of non-tolerance toward crime and those who commit them. As a police officer then I absolutely thought that 300 homicides annually was way too much and that it represented a paradigm shift which if not addressed would lead to where we are today . Guess what we are there.
Instead of investing heavily in modernizing our police department the political class made the decision to take the country in a different direction.
They gutted the police force , using some members as their personal gophers , removed funding for detective training while exponentially working to facilitate the garrison culture.
Despite the tremendous harm both political parties did to the Police department and by extension our country,the single greatest crime enhancement step ever taken in our nation’s history was the creation of INDECOM as an oversight agency to monitor the JDF /JCF/and the Corrections department.
Jamaica’s criminals are no fools , many are incredibly smart young men who decided on a life of crime after realizing that the penalty for criminal behavior is so insignificant that not engaging in it is almost silly.
Many have attended some of the most prestigious high schools these are young men who could be anything they put their minds to given the opportunity. It is no wonder however that each year more and more executive positions both in the public and private sectors are being filled by women . Simply put Jamaica’s young women are going to schools , young men are leaving and entering the lucrative business of crime.
One thing is certain the much ballyhooed modernization of the police department has not done a darn thing to change anything for the better if the actions of the officers on the streets and the crime statistics are anything to go by.
Before the Island begin to bend the arc of crime, it must come to a point of “no mas” the infamous quote of a beaten Roberto Duran as Sugar Ray Leonard peppered him with unanswered blows on November 25, 1980 .
Like a dope addict who ultimately comes to the realization that the next needle up his arm will be his last and says “I need help” . The Island can get to that space, or it can continue with the bullshit narrative that it is a nation on the cusp of first world status if only it continue to pretend.
Jamaica can continue to pretend it is actually on a path to prosperity or it can recognize that with a population of approximately 2.8 million people,it continues to have a high homicide rate (36÷100,000), which places it among the highest (per capita) national homicide rates in the world.
It is estimated that because of youth crime, Jamaica loses US$4.3 million in potential investment each year while a further US$95 million, which would flow into Jamaica through tourism, goes elsewhere. The Island also spends more than US$529 million (J$46.5 billion) every year as a direct public and private cost to fight crime.
As I have said before in numerous articles the country did not get to this stage in a day and it will take much time to reverse what is happening in our country today.
We cannot reverse people fighting our police officers in a day but we can put in place serious penalties for assaulting our police officers.
We can put in place serious penalties for police officers who step outside the laws to abuse and kill people unjustly.
We can invest in the creation of an investigative bureau which is staffed with well trained officers of integrity, while legislating real penalties for violent crimes.
We can reverse the policy of jailing predial thieves, putting them instead to work cleaning up our Cities and towns or working for their victims as payment for their crimes.
This will free up prison spaces for violent felons.
We can begin an education campaign to get adults to respect the rule of law while telling them what the penalties are for offending .
Most importantly repeal the INDECOM act now !!!!!
Assign the INDECOM budget, and the Public defender’s budget to training and equipping the police department, improving the office of DPP and hiring more judges from the prosecution side of the fence.
Most importantly is truth in sentencing for violent crimes . Truth in sentencing must come after a total revamping of the penalties for violent penalties and replacing them with life without parole where applicable.
To my friend who asked what I would do , I did not answer you because I do not have time to back and forth on social media . If the Government , any Government is serious about dealing with those blood thirsty criminals this is how it will be done . It will not be achieved by pussy-footing around and treating criminals with deference. It will be accomplished when we adopt a zero tolerance policy toward criminality in this a zero sum game.