I have consistently said in these blogs that the present leadership in Jamaica will not be able to turn the country around, from the plague of serious crimes and poverty.
I have posted for your information a speech given by the country’s National Security Minister Peter Bunting. I must congratulate Minister Bunting for the candid eloquence and heart-felt empathy which is inherent in his speech. I am not a fan of politicians and certainly no fan of Bunting, but for this moment and this speech I do believe the Minister is being sincere. But in as much as Minister Bunting was being sincere, his speech gave a not often seen window into the soul of how he and the Miller Administration feels at least on the subject of crime. On this issue I am vindicated in my pronouncements that they do not have the answers , but I’m also fearful for the Jamaican people whose leadership is at their wit’s end on how to contain crime.
I would like to draw your attention to this sentence I pulled from paragraph 3 of the Minister’s speech.
Quote: “However, I think that after 15 months I am convinced that the best efforts of the security forces, by itself, will not solve the crime problem in Jamaica.”
By this statement alone, the Minister revealed that they had no plan as an administration to curb, much less cure the crime epidemic, as I have systematically pointed out.
I cannot write too much on this issue, my site administrator tells me my blogs are too long winded, but I just want to give the Minister a few pointers. He may contact me for details.
(1) Tough uncompromising legislation which puts criminals away for good, look at the American Rico Statue.
(2) Set performance standards for all police Officers, to eliminating dead-wood cops from the department, starting with the Commissioner of Police down.
(3) Remove the Police Department from political control. Create an effective Police review board from civil society. Each member of that panel should have impeccable credentials, (as per criminal record), like that of police officers. Panelist must be supportive of the rule of law and of the needs of law enforcement officers.
(4) Equip the Police with the tools they need to do their jobs.
(5) Divide the country into grids, keep tight control of each grid by positioning officers at strategic locations in vehicles so they may respond to the needs of the customers , the Jamaican public.
(6) This would effectively remove cops from station houses and place them with the public.
(7) Sub Officers and officers must be out with the men augmenting staff strength, day and night .
(8) The way patrols are done must be revamped. There is no need for officers on patrol to be driving around for an 8 hour shift, it is a colossal waste of gas and wear and tear on the vehicles which are already in short supply> (see parked strategically in grid perspective).
(9)All service vehicles must be added to grid support, no gazetted or sub-officer should drive a service vehicle home. All use of vehicles must be for documented police duties.
(10) Increase exponentially, penalties not just for principal offenders who commit crimes ‚but also for secondary offenders who aid or are otherwise involved.(see rico statute)
(11) Hire and train more detectives, give them merit pay/promotions.
(12) Remove cops from office duties except in supervisory positions.
(13) No police department makes public its internal memos. Stop making the Force Orders public, giving away staff strength, , where certain officers are stationed, or will be transferred to and other information the public has no expectation of having. You are endangering officers lives, and threatening national security.
I give the Minister a 13 point plan commensurate with the list of thirteens attributed to his speech. Bunting’s addressed was on April 13th, 2013 to the “13th Annual Prayer and Thanksgiving Service for the Security Forces of Jamaica”