EDITORIAL - Mr Ellington's New Year's resolution

New Year's messages from public officials tend to be a sickly mix of sentimentality and platitudes, from which the one for 2011 by Police Commissioner Owen Ellington to his members does not completely escape.

In between the niceties, however, Mr Ellington offers specific prescriptions for fighting crime as well as manages to set specific targets against which the Jamaica Constabulary Force and, by extension, himself, may be measured.

By Mr Ellington's analysis, the bulk of serious crimes in Jamaica, in particular murder, are perpetrated by members of organised crime gangs that, too often, operate with impunity.

The police, according to Mr Ellington, intend to change this by employing counter-gang strategies that "disrupt, defeat and degrade the capabilities of and deny organised crime the freedom to operate in a manner which they previously enjoyed".

There is nothing new in such a declaration, except that, in this case, Mr Ellington does set specific strategies and timelines for his field commanders to engage in this fight.

Said the police commissioner: "Each territorial division must follow through on their objective of identifying, profiling and launching counter-action against the three most active gangs in their domain with the aim of significantly disrupting their activities, if not completely demolishing them by March 31, 2011."

Periodic updates

While we do not expect Mr Ellington to publicise operational details of the divisions, the public will rightfully expect periodic updates on who has implemented the strategic target and with what success. They will, too, want, in the spirit of the transparency implied in Mr Ellington's declaration, to be told about the regions and the leaders who fail to adhere to the strategies and/or deadlines.

We expect, too, regular accounting on Mr Ellington's promise that the police will open files, under the Proceeds of Crime Act, "on every person arrested and charged with a serious gang or drug-related crime". The aim here is to use the law to deprive persons of assets gained from criminal behaviour.

If Mr Ellington is right about the likely efficacy of these strategies, including the plan by the police to take back public spaces now occupied by criminals, there should be notable decline in homicides this year. By how much Mr Ellington, significantly, didn't say.

Recent trends, some may argue, however, suggest an inability for concentrated effort on the part of the police. This makes such persons sceptical about Mr Ellington's expected outcomes.

For example, while the final figure for homicides in 2010 has not yet been published, the police estimate 15 per cent fewer murders than the 1,625 of 2009. This is largely because of a sharp reduction in murders in the second half of the year, compared to the same period in 2009 - largely the result of the disruption of criminal networks after the state of emergency in May.

However, month-on-month declines between June and September was followed by a 31 per cent jump in October over September. Extrapolation from the total murders up to December 19 (1,380) suggests that the upward trend has continued.

Mr Ellington has much hard work ahead, including keeping his team focused.

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