Crime Convo
MoBay Chamber to hand new study to cops, facilitate talks on tackling scourge
Published:Monday | October 23, 2023 | 12:09 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) has set a December deadline to submit to the police a crime study commissioned in an effort to identify the origin of crime and arrest its ongoing societal spread.
Speaking with The Gleaner last week, MBCCI President Oral Heaven said the study, which was started this month, will be complemented by the findings of a previous study done by The University of the West Indies (UWI) in 2017.
“We have commissioned a crime study, which started on October 15 by the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC), and they are doing this crime study for us, which will look at the cause of crime and also create a social-intervention system,” Heaven said. “At the end of the crime study, which should take place in the next six weeks, we will hand over the findings of the study to the authorities, and our aim is to see what the root causes of crime are and work to alleviate them.”
He said the 2017 crime study, also commissioned by the Chamber, would be a backdrop to the study that is now being done by the UCC.
“The whole idea is to look at what is happening and what solutions we can put in place to reduce crime in general,” the Chamber president added.
Candlelight vigil attack
Heaven’s revelation comes approximately two weeks after an incident on October 10 where gunmen attacked and shot at residents who were attending a candlelight vigil at Sam Sharpe Square in Montego Bay’s downtown district. Two persons were pronounced dead at hospital in the immediate aftermath, and a third victim died a day later.
Following the deadly attack, the St James Municipal Corporation staunchly insisted that it had not granted a permit for the candlelight vigil to take place.
Speaking further on the general issue of crime in the parish, Heaven said discussions have been held with MBCCI members and business operators on the need to utilise security cameras as a means of protecting themselves and their properties.
“We had a discussion about the whole surveillance issue and the need to have cameras to protect your property. Businesses are encouraged to get the surveillance system so you can monitor your property, and you can also help the security forces, and so when there is a shooting, and such, we have footage that can help them identify the perpetrators,” said Heaven. “Any crime, or any seeming spike in crime, creates concern for the business community because if people are concerned or afraid, they will not come out to shop. Also, when we think of all these shootings, people become afraid to really move about, so we are concerned about that.”
He added, “Our focus is just to be vigilant and encourage our members to be aware of their surroundings, to know what is happening around them.”
The Jamaica Constabulary Force’s crime statistics show that of the 1,038 murders committed in Jamaica up to September 30 this year, St James has recorded 144 murders, 18 less than the 162 murders recorded during the corresponding period last year. This places the island’s largest number of murders in the St James Police Division, followed by the St Andrew South division, with 95 murders, and the Westmoreland division with 92 murders.
In the meantime, ahead of the MBCCI’s projected presentation of its commissioned crime study, former Mayor of Montego Bay Shalman Scott believes attention must be given to the inciting events that spark acts of crime and violence in the first place.
“One of the things that we have to do is pay more attention to the early beginnings of these conflicts when we have the capacity to do so. It is not in every case we are going to have the ability to know what has been the genesis of the reason for the grievance and the violence, but we should endeavour to get information so that we can help to make constructive suggestions as to what is the best way forward,” Scott told The Gleaner.
“Some of us, either out of fear or inadequacy, continue to pull ourselves back from some of these societal and communal challenges that we face, but the consequences are as predictable as the day follows the night. We have to take much more interest in helping to have the society reach a new level of social harmony and economic viability,” Scott added.