George Davis | Fitz Jackson can talk now

As many of us suffer directly and vicariously from the trauma associated with the loss of loved ones to gun crime, I am beginning to wonder if the solution has been staring at us all along. I am led to this contemplation by the stance taken by the parliamentary Opposition, which seems convinced that violence has surged because the Holness administration is not working with a 'crime plan'.

For how else can you interpret the latest row in Parliament about the continued resilience of the murder rate amid states of emergency and ZOSOs? The overriding message from the Opposition is that until the Government implements a crime plan, the killings will continue to be wanton.

If you believe my premise is a stretch, consider this. The shadow minister of national security, Fitz Jackson, a man I respect, issued a press release on May 5: "The claim by Prime Minister Andrew Holness that the Government's crime plan is now being implemented is an astonishing and troubling revelation as the data from the police clearly show a significant increase in major crimes across the island."

Jackson continues: "If there is a crime plan, it remains top secret to the parliamentary Opposition and the majority of Jamaicans."

Fitz Jackson's words need no interpretation. As the opposition spokesman on national security, he has to go hard and be seen to go hard on the Government for its failure to curb violent crime. In doing so, he loses all perspective and issues a statement that makes him look less than the sensible man we know him to be.

Is he serious when he says that the troubling data from the police showing significant increases in major crimes across the island are BECAUSE there is no crime plan? With murders happening with frightening regularity in certain parts of the country since the Holness administration took office, at what point did the PNP recognise a surge and call for the implementation of a crime plan?

You know, being an opposition MP isn't easy, especially when a country is faced with a perennial problem. So I have sympathy for Fitz Jackson as he looks for the right thing to say to find favour with a Jamaican population increasingly frightened by the firepower of gunmen and the seeming freedom they have in unleashing mayhem in communities.

Fitz Jackson must see his shadowing of the national security portfolio as a dream posting, given that there's no shortage of incidents requiring him to issue a statement, criticising the job being done by a government struggling to deliver a safe country to its people. He can be in the news every day, lambasting the Government's handling of crime, knowing he can only find favour with those tired of the reports of vicious killings.

But there will come a time when someone will ask Fitz to show his and the PNP's expertise in fighting crime. A day will come when someone will ask Fitz to name the successful crime plan implemented by a former PNP administration that brought homicides down to a level expected of a country with Jamaica's profile.

A time will come when someone will point out to Fitz that the former PNP administration unveiled a five-year crime plan in 2012, a three-pronged crime-prevention strategy in 2013, and two crime plans in 2015. Someone should remind him that despite the implementation of all those crime plans, murders remained above the 1,000 mark for each year.

Sometimes strikers get open goals and kick the ball wide of the target. Fitz must not behave as if he's getting giddy with this shadow portfolio to the extent that he's thinking instead of the news headlines he will generate rather than how he can influence the right kind of change.

Selah.

- George Davis is a communications consultant and media executive. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and george.s.davis@hotmail.com.