The enemy within

Since the occupation by the security forces earlier this year of Tivoli Gardens, headquarters of the infamous Shower Posse, the homicide rate across Jamaica has declined considerably. But there are still too many murders, and other inner-city garrison areas where other dons with their political thugs are headquartered need to be addressed.

Although foreign-made guns are used in these murders, it is Jamaica-born and bred killers who use them against their fellow Jamaicans. The enemy is within! We must look at ourselves and within ourselves for solutions.

In addition to having the highest homicide rate in the world, Jamaica also can boast having the highest rate of questionable killings by agents of the state - the police and the military. Unlike murders by civilians, this statistic does not seem to be declining. This phenomenon has persisted for decades across both People's National Party (PNP) and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) governments and, therefore, must be considered part of the culture of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. It is not alien policemen who are killing poor, black Jamaicans; it is Jamaica-born and bred policemen who are turning their guns against their fellow Jamaicans. The enemy is within! We must look at ourselves and within ourselves for the solution.

What is most unfortunate is that these questionable killings seem to have a level of social acceptance. The middle class and power brokers in this country seem to accept that a certain level of 'collateral damage' of innocent (black) Jamaicans is a necessary evil to ensure their personal security and, therefore, they are not going to make any or too much noise about it when it occurs.

When the middle class and power brokers in this country get upset about something, and raise their voices in howls of protest, the Government listens, and changes are made. It does not matter which party is in power; they both know on which side their bread is buttered.

Prices rolled back

When in April 1999 the PNP government announced steep hikes in the prices of petroleum products, there were three days of islandwide protests in which the Jamaican middle class and light-skinned elites took to the streets. The PNP government rolled back the price increases, and the then prime minister announced that his government would always listen to the voice of the people.

After stalling for months on acting on a request from the US government to extradite Christopher 'Dudus' Coke on drug-trafficking and gunrunning charges, in May 2010 the JLP government finally took steps to apprehend him in response to overwhelming public protests by civil society, including the private sector and the Church.

Soldiers entered the home of Keith Clarke in East Kirkland Heights, St Andrew, and pumped more than 20 bullets into him in front of his wife and daughter. Later, it was reported they had apologised, saying that it was a case of mistaken identity. The implication is that if it was the right person, it would have been perfectly OK to execute him.

In Negril last week, numerous eyewitnesses report that Fredrick 'Mickey' Hill was confronted by a group of seven or eight policeman, some wearing masks or with 'kerchiefs' tied over their faces. They demanded that he tell them what was in a 'scandal' bag that he had. In the process of showing them the contents - cornmeal and condensed milk - the police opened fire and Mr Hill was shot at least three times at point-blank range. He died on the spot. Another load of policemen came and removed Mr Hill's body in the back of a police jeep, while the original police party got back in the police bus and drove away.

Space does not permit mentioning other incidents. The police are in the habit of contaminating the scenes of police shootings - including removing bodies from incident scenes before authorised personnel arrive - which makes it difficult for forensic investigations into the incidents to come to a conclusion. I have never heard of a policeman disciplined for contaminating a crime scene. And now the police are getting into the habit of wearing masks during police operations.

Where are the howls of protest from civil society - the private sector and the Church - about these killings by the Jamaican police and military? And about the police state tactics? The following statement is attributed to Edmund Burke, MP, PC: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing." I have a slight disagreement with Burke: anyone who stays silent in the face of evil should not be called good. The enemy is within.

Peter Espeut is a sociologist and a Roman Catholic deacon.