Regardless of what occurs in any given scenario, no country can claim control if its security forces must beg certain communities to allow them to enter. Citizens have a right to air their grievances against and to their government. Every democratic nation has that right. What citizens do not have a right to do is block roadways, start fires, and damage and destroy property.
Over the last several decades, blocking roadways, setting fires in the streets, damaging and destroying roadways, and destroying private and public property have become a staple of civil disobedience. Nothing has been done legislatively to stop this practice, so people believe they have a constitutional right to commit these crimes.
In the same way that the legislature has not acted to protect police officers by making it a felony to hit an officer, it has failed to act to protect the infrastructure of the nation.
People who would attack or fight with officers, or worse, those who inject themselves into lawful police actions and assault officers [must] know that there are consequences for doing so. If people are aware that fighting with attacking police or resisting arrests brings strong penalties, they will be less inclined to engage in those activities.
They are much more likely to be seriously harmed or killed when they engage in these acts of criminality.
Those against serious legislative action on these issues have certainly not given this much thought. It is shocking that as the present government preens its feathers and banters about the new and improved force for good that it has created, there has been no thought about protecting officers legislatively from the lawless animals they are forced to encounter daily.
https://mikebeckles.com/norman-heywoods-dereliction-of-duty-a-disgrace-and-a-stain-on-the-constabulary/
On Saturday, March 23rd, Police officers confronted criminals in Old Harbor Bay; of course, (gangsters don’t tek talk), so they decided to shoot it out with the cops. When you choose to fight the law, the law will win most of the time. So they lost, and officers recovered two firearms from the two who went home to be with their maker.
Of course, there were the obligatory demonstrations, road blocking, and setting of fires. The laughable part is that the hoodlums in the community told the cheerleading media that INDECOM was welcome to enter the community, but the police weren’t. What kind of country do we have when people can say to the police where they can and cannot go?
Worse yet, Superintendent Hopeton Nicholson of the St Catherine South Police Division has appealed for calm in the area and urged the residents to exercise restraint and allow security personnel safe passage.
What the fuck? Police beg criminal elements who are committing felonies, destruction of government property, and arson permission to enter to do their jobs. In what world is this a thing?
The new police commissioner, Kevin Blake, bragged that this force is the best resourced it has ever been. The incoming Kevin Blake, the outgoing Antony Anderson, and the National Security Minister Horace Chang were all beside themselves with effusive praise about their job in reforming, reforming, and rebranding the JCF.
They bragged that the force is the most resourced it has ever been and rattled off a litany of improvements made under the Andrew Holness Government.
They also celebrated that the force was up to speed regarding personnel, boasting a record 15,000 sworn officers.
In light of these developments, we would not be forward in asking the Jamaican people if they feel safer in their homes and communities.
The Jamaican people I refer to are not the typical hoodlums who block roads, set roadways alight, and destroy property but the people who want the criminals like those who challenged the police last Saturday removed from their communities but are too afraid to speak out.
When law-abiding citizens are too terrified to speak out, the loud noises you hear come from criminals. Both political parties have consistently failed our country to the extent that not only do Jamaicans have a sense that they can do just about anything without consequence, but foreigners now believe Jamaica is the place to go and get buck wild by breaking our laws.
As I have repeatedly said, the force’s leadership is so incompetent that the young officers are left to fend for themselves without leadership.
As has always been the case, young officers coming into the department have never shied away from doing the work. It has always been the leadership’s incompetence, coupled with the lack of legislative support, that helps to foster the turnstile of attrition from the JCF.
It is becoming clearer by the day that the Jamaica Constabulary Force is not in control. This force for good is not doing so well and is not offering much service to the silent people who do not share in this madness.
When a community defends criminals who engage police officers in gunbattle, those people are not citizens seeking redress from their government. They are criminals who should be treated as such.
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Mike Beckles is a former Police Detective, businessman, freelance writer, black achiever honoree, and creator of the blog mikebeckles.com.