EDITORIAL - Tell the police, Mayor Harris

Glendon Harris, the chairman of the St James Parish Council, who took the oath of office against the backdrop of an altered representation of the Jamaican flag, is a chap who says the most peculiarly interesting things.

There is, for instance, his statement last week, in response to the rising wave of violent crime in his parish, especially against women and children.

"I know," said Mr Harris, at a demonstration against violence, "that there are some persons in high places that are fuelling the crime and violence in this parish, and I am going to make an appeal to them to stop it now."

That people might have found his remark ironic may have escaped the goodly Mr Harris, two of whose parish council members, the police say - albeit without offering substantial basis why - have been under investigation for involvement in the lottery scam in western Jamaica.

Indeed, the police dropped the charge for the illegal possession of a firearm against the deputy mayor after his son took responsibility for the gun found at their home. Another faces the charge of being in possession of stolen property, to wit, a TV set.

But that, for now, is not the point. What is of interest is Mr Harris' attempt to use moral suasion to deter the criminals who have, so far this year, murdered 123 people in St James, a seven per cent increase over 2011.

"Stop it now!" declared Mr Harris.

PASS ON INFORMATION

We are all for moral suasion and, indeed, hope that Mr Harris' appeal works. But we have for Mr Harris a suggestion for a better, and more efficacious, use of whatever information that may be in his possession.

He should give it to the police and provide a witness statement to that effect. For Mr Harris appears to have specific information about the perpetrators of crime in his parish.

When asked by this newspaper about the identity of the "persons in high places", he responded: "Who do you think was behind the many guns found at Customs recently?"

We expect that with Mr Harris' help, arrests are imminent.

Earl Witter and the missing report

We support the sentiment of the civil-society leaders who believe that it is high time that the public defender, Mr Earl Witter, deliver the findings on how 73 civilians may have died when police and soldiers stormed Tivoli Gardens in May 2010 in their bid to capture narco-trafficker and gunrunner Christopher Coke.

We understand that Mr Witter had constraints, at first with an insufficiency of forensic pathologists to complete autopsies, then with a slow delivery of ballistic reports by the police. But those difficulties were overcome.

Now, 28 months after the Tivoli incursion, even an interim report should be forthcoming so that the Government, and the society, can begin to contemplate the next steps, including if anyone should be held accountable.

Delay, Mr Witter should know, prevents closure - for the families of those who died and for the society, which wishes to know the lessons that ought to be learnt from the conduct of the security operations.

We previously reminded Mr Witter about the saying about prolonged sitting on chamber pots. Consider it repeated, Mr Witter.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.