Wanted: new approach to crime

Gordon Robinson, Contributor

Anybody want to know what's wrong with Jamaica's politics? Listen to National Security Minister Peter Bunting:

"I am not embarrassed to say that right now, as minister of national security, I am going through a kind of a dark night of the soul.

"We are trying very hard as a ministry ... . I see the men and women of the security forces trying very hard; I see the leadership both of the police and the military working hard and so much effort is being made and yet so little headway, such slow headway is coming out in the statistics."

At last! An open, honest, brutally frank, if somewhat emotional assessment of Jamaica's crime problem. One word is sufficient to describe the above statement: truth.

But it's inspired the highlighting of what's wrong with Jamaica's politics in that this honest truth has been the subject of a boorish backlash of carping criticism by many, especially opposition politicians, that makes me understand why our Government rarely seems to speak the truth. It's damned if you do, damned if you don't. Is it that we want politicians to lie?

Tell me a lie; say I look familiar.

Even though I know that

you don't even know my name.

Tell me a lie; say ya just got into

town

Even though I've seen you here

before

just hangin' around.

This single admission by the national security minister, if only it's received in the spirit with which it's given, could be the starting point of a successful campaign against crime. It's an admission that Jamaica's crime problem can't be solved by security forces alone. Nor by any minister of national security. What's wrong with that? It's the simple truth.

Unassailable truth

That it has taken so long to dawn on this security minister is a pity, but he seems to have come around to this unassailable truth much more quickly than any of his predecessors, most of whom seem still in the mode of making bad-man statements like "We'll hunt them down like dogs" (or words to that effect) as integral parts of the performance of their ministerial duties.

So, plaudits to Peter Bunting. Regrettably, the insensitive nonsense thrown at him from all angles since seems to have put him on the back foot, so much so that he has issued a statement 'clarifying' what he said. Former National Security Minister Derrick Smith is quoted as saying, "He has demoralised the leadership of the police force and the rank-and-file members, and I think what the minister needs to do next is to sit with the prime minister and ask her to relieve him of the burdensome task that he can't handle."

So, how exactly does one
demoralise the leadership of the force by saying: "I see the leadership
both of the police and the military working hard and so much effort is
being made"? Sounds like a commendation to me. And, again, it's truth.
When did the minister say he can't handle the job? For the first time,
at last, we have a minister who has admitted that it's a job no one
minister or ministry can complete. He can handle his job. But his job
alone can't solve the problem, which is why he finds himself "going
through a kind of a dark night of the soul".

No doubt,
at the outset, like so many before him, he considered that he would
have different results; that, somehow, the strength of his intellect
would accomplish what others before him had failed to do. Now, he's
realising that's impossible. He's but one man, and despite his and his
security forces' best efforts, more needs to be
done.

So, his statement needs no clarification. It was
crystal clear. Obviously, he wasn't in the mood for any pretence that
he could do it alone; or together with the police; or the army. His
original statement, so perfect in its simplicity, could, if he sticks to
those guns, herald a new type of crime fighting. What has political
game-players calling for the minister's resignation is the same thing
that has convinced me he's the right man for the
job.

Maybe now we'll understand that violence begets
violence and that crime fighting, properly so called, isn't just a
hunt-'em-down-and-kill-'em operation. In a place like Jamaica, crime
fighting must be a multifaceted and multi-organisational strategy based
on philosophy. Please don't hurt yourself laughing; I'm
serious.

If it takes divine intervention to show the
way, so be it. Step one, as I've often said, is to disarm the citizenry.
Persons with firearms ought to be clearly recognisable as police,
soldiers or criminals and treated accordingly. A firearm licensing
policy in Jamaica is a gateway for criminals to obtain licensed
firearms.

Furthermore, this oft-advanced theory that
citizens need to be armed in order to defend themselves against
criminals is a fallacy. How many times have we heard of cases in which
licensed firearm holders (including policemen) have been gunned down and
their firearms, unable to protect them, transferred to the
gunmen?

All his adult life, my father owned a licensed
firearm. He and I fought relentlessly about it, as I considered it a
danger to the younger household members. One evening there came a knock
on his front door and two men asked for him by name. When he went to
greet them, they attacked him and stabbed him within an inch of his
life.

He was unconscious in hospital for a long time
and, when he awoke, I was at his bedside. No doubt he thought this was
because I was a caring son. But the first words out of my mouth were:
"Where was the (expletive deleted) gun?" It was locked up in his
wardrobe. Fortunately, the assailants bolted without entering his
home.

Long-term solutions

So, we
must disarm the citizenry. Then, we must attend to the long-term
solutions, the first of which is to end garrison politics. This begins
with a constitutional provision that MPs must live in their
constituencies and represent their constituents from a foundation of 'he
who feels it knows it'. Housing policy needs adjusting so that never
again can any community be deliberately packed with supporters of one or
the other party.

Then we must turn our attention to
schools. Education is a must. And we must commit to educating every
child and young person, regardless of gender, class, creed or religion.
It's an eternal truth that, as society's education levels increase,
crime levels decrease. So, once our education system delivers a sound
education and not just a regular visit to torture chambers like GSAT,
we'll see significant crime reduction without having to create a single
special squad of policemen.

Our education system needs
revamping in recognition of our unique ability to teach violence in
schools. Not only our reading, writing and arithmetical curricula
require attention. Also, we must approach the issue of crime reduction
in a systematic way from within our schools.

The same
polling science we so enthusiastically embrace during election campaigns
can be used to collect data identifying and measuring school issues:
staff and student attitudes and behaviour. Based on this scientifically
collected data, definitive school-safety programmes can be developed to
include classes on problem-solving. Music, chess and bridge, all
dispute-resolution aids, should be part of every
curriculum.

Also, this is where a modern,
philosophically revamped police force comes in. The police must be
integrated into every school with a police liaison assigned and
additional officers committed as needed
situationally.

Simple choice

It's
not easy. But we have a simple choice. We can continue to arm our
citizenry and fight pitched gun battles in the streets daily and see how
that works for us. Or we can try something different, hoping for
improvement over time. Or would you prefer I told you that all's well
and we're on the right path? Would you prefer a
lie?

Tell me a lie when
you take me

home.

Tell
me a lie.

I don't really want to
spend the

night
alone.

Tell me a lie.

Don't worry about my sorrow.

You'll be long gone
tomorrow

and you won't have to see
me

cry.

Just
tell me a
lie.

Tell Me a
Lie, written by Mickey Buckins and Barbara Wyrick, was first
recorded by country music artiste Lynn Anderson on her 1970s
You're My Man album, but not considered by Anderson
important enough to be released as a single. In 1983, Janie Fricke
didn't make the same mistake.

While I'm talking
education, for Pete's sake, please stop this holier-than-thou disgrace
that shuts children out of an education because they are unruly,
disabled or pregnant. What disqualifies an obedient Christian youth who
has gone forth and begun to multiply from the most basic human right,
namely, a right to learn?

Did I hear some half-witted
Bible-thumpers whisper "bad example"? Bad example for whom? For other
students who see teenage pregnant girls every day in their normal life;
on TV; and in books? The majority of whom are engaged in the same
activity from which their fellow student graduated with a big belly but
who have, so far, been 'lucky'? Nonsense!

Instead of
recognising that these girls are about to embark upon an essential role
in life that could overwhelm them and giving them the additional
counselling they'll need in an attempt to ensure that the baby doesn't
turn out to be a gunman, the expectant mother is thrown out of school;
castigated and shamed; embittered and embarrassed. What do you think is
likely to become of her and her child?

The police
force itself needs attention, but not the type of attention it's getting
now. The force needs to be equipped with modern crime-detection
computerised tools, and police personnel need retraining in how to
prevent and solve crime cerebrally, instead of
violently.

Don't laugh. I'm serious, for a change.
Just think about it. We've been trying the policeman-as-bad-man
technique for decades. IT'S NOT WORKING, as the minister so correctly
admitted. Why would we continue down the identical road without change?
Minister, you obviously recognise it ain't working. Fix
it.

Peace and love.

Gordon Robinson
is an attorney-at-law. Email feedback to
columns@gleanerjm.com.