Orville Taylor | Cleaning the head of the stream to reduce crime

If the prime minister thinks that there is a national emergency and the Opposition agrees with him, then there is basis for a state of public emergency (SOPE). And if there is consensus across the aisles in the Houses of Parliament, leading to a two-thirds of the members pointing their thumbs up, then the solitary middle finger should not raise its head.

Our laws provide for that, our democracy is robust because, by and large, we adhere to our statutes and when we violate the supreme ordinance, the Constitution, there is major pushback and even recourse to the courts.

This is our blessing as a democracy, because there is no such thing as absolute power. The secret to having the public buying into the security plans is to have them believe that the Government is really interested in creating a fully lawfully compliant society, and not just one in which friends and cronies thrive.

Taking tales out of school, the very point was made to some of my well-degreed PhD colleagues on the plantation, that sometimes very bright people have their opinionated heads stuck so far into a dark place, that the simple fact eludes them. Having the power to do something is very different from having the right or authority to do it. Most ordinary and ‘powerless’ people understand this clearly.

Misusing power is in itself its own punishment, because, like a hurriedly swallowed oversized mango seed, it invariably comes out in the end and the consequences of the impropriety are often too much for the system to bear. Oftentimes, the results are immediate; on other occasions, it takes decades, but in the end, someone pays for it.

As a society, we must understand that the rule of law is sacrosanct. More important, for any system to work, it is imperative that the most powerful are the keenest to uphold it. Anything else is corruption and leads to all of the social ills that the society is trying to fight.

Myriad research has demonstrated that crime and violence thrive in an environment where there is corruption. Doubtless, the ‘poster boys’ of venality are the police, because they are on the forefront in the war against crime. And in any war, there will always be spies of the adversaries and enemies from within.

An extremely embarrassing chapter in the history of policing is being scripted as we speak. In an episode where a cop was arrested and another, along with a civilian, being killed, it looks like the truth has also suffered mortal wounds and only a detailed and dispassionate investigation will make it survive.

Giving credit where it is due, the minister of national security and the commissioner of police have acted swiftly and the beleaguered Mobile Reserve Division has been taken out of operation.

Logically, its head, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Terrence Bent, has been sent on leave to allow for the investigations to be conducted. At this point, there is a difference between being ‘bent’ and crooked and we must not jump to judgement. Due process and the presumption of innocence are rights to which every ordinary citizen is entitled under the Constitution. Police officers are no less. Nonetheless, when all the eyes are crossed and the Ts are dotted, any guilt discovered must be prosecuted with the fullness of the law.

However, the police are only one area of concern. We can pretend to be the naïve blind witness; however, corruption and crime have many owners. This is a Jamaica where the history of crime and politics has been very well coloured with deep shades of emerald and vermillion. If we are serious about losing our reputation as the murder capital of the Anglophone world, then we must hold our politicians and leaders on the whole, to the highest standards of scrutiny.

VERY DISCOMFORTING

It is not quite Petrojelly, but there is something very discomforting about the deal where it is alleged that public lands in Ocho Rios, St Ann, were sold for at least US$4.6 million below market level to an investor in 2016. A report from the former Contractor General Dirk Harrison, who it seems is now muted in the new anti-corruption agency, suggested that a can of caviar was opened which smelled like red herring.

Harrison’s report was apparently done long ago but is just seeing the light of day. At present, there is a three-way tit-for-tit and tat-for-tit among the main protagonist, Minister of Economic Growth and Job Creation Daryl Vaz, who reportedly allowed for the sale, Harrison and the Integrity Commission, Harrison’s employers.

Vaz labelled the report as “false, disingenuous and without evidence”, while Harrison and his colleagues at the Integrity Commission, where he is now ensconced, are at daggers drawn over what looks like improper interference in the presentation of his report.

Now, I cannot say what is the truth at this time, but there are multiple precedents where politicians, sitting in the present Parliament, have carried out actions which, although not criminal, have brought the country into disrepute. We must shun the very appearance of impropriety in our public dealings once and for all. In this matter, we need as full an interrogation as with the police.

To create an atmosphere where corruption dies, we need to have a head of the Integrity Commission who is not only independent, permanently appointed and reporting only to Parliament. However, it is also time for our commissioner of police to not be subject to a fragile contract. In my opinion, he, like the INDECOM commissioner, the auditor general and the director of public prosecutions, must have the nominal and real independence to act against anyone, with the possible exception of the governor general.

Anything less is just talk.

So, we can have all the SOPE we want, but unless we make sure that the head of the stream is clean then there will be suds but no clean clothes.

- Dr Orville Taylor is head of the Department of Sociology at the UWI, a radio talk-show host, and author of ‘Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets’. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com.