Letter of the Day | We must unite to end the crime crisis

THE EDITOR, Sir:

In the past week we have witnessed more horrors of the criminal underworld through their murderous ways. They continue to drive fear into law-abiding citizens through the use of their illegally acquired guns.

We saw first-hand only last week the bitter grief that ordinary people are having to endure. The ordinary people I mention here include both regular citizens and citizens who have offered to serve their nation as officers of the law.

It was gut-wrenching to observe the grief the family members of these two bright, young officers are being forced to contend with and I am left to think deeply about the bitter horrors that grieving families of slain victims of gun crime are having to deal with.

I want it known here that the police are not the enemy of the people, nor the people an enemy of the police. It is when we all work together to confront the ills that beset us, such as violent crime, that we will get a breakthrough and sustained decreases in the murder rate.

The difficult nature of the police’s job is not lost on Dr Horace Chang, minister of national security. He has been quite forthright about the urgent need for complete social transformation which will help ensure a safer, better Jamaica.

No one should be fooled into thinking that these evil gunmen desire a clean, peaceful and orderly country. Their aim is to spread their hate and indiscipline, thus creating a failed nation filled with chaos, where murder and mayhem run unchecked.

It must be understood that the very soul of our beautiful Jamaica is at stake here. There’s no time to waste to make sure we fix this most critical national issue and the onus must not be left on the political directorate, though it has a large role to play.

Again, I reiterate that it is we the people who have the power to determine where we go collectively. You have the power to drive gunmen and all other violence producers out of your communities to safeguard a proper future for your children.

Additionally, it must be said that the national security apparatus has been improved significantly over recent years to give the police the necessary tools to effectively carry out their duties under the ambit of the law.

The will, therefore, to lift the country out of this debilitating crime epidemic must remain paramount. Jamaica belongs to all of us. It will take all of us, in the long run, to eliminate the gun culture we have hugged up for way too long when it was better to simply Liv Gud.

PAUL CLARKE