Attacking the crime problem
Published:Thursday | January 23, 2014 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
We have noted over the past several days the sparcity of articles or headlines in The Gleaner highlighting the continued bloodletting in our country. This complicity of silence does not enhance our democracy, nor does it solve our crime problem.
We have heard the calls of judges and those in high places postulating that to report on crime and criminality worsens the crime problem. It seems The Gleaner is listening to these voices and thus falls short in its journalistic responsibility. We must remind the voices of silence who often live in protected/exclusive neighbourhoods that the rest of us have to deal with crime every day and neither our cries nor their silence have solved the problem. It is still with us. And we are living in fear. We are now living with the fear of criminals and the complicity of silence. Our cries are not ear-splitting cries, but their silence is deafening.
We need a robust debate on crime wherein the people's voice is heard above the silence. We need an active dialogue on the transformation of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) into a modern-day police department. This dialogue has to focus on the leadership of our crime-fighting efforts and the strategy to reduce crime to normalised levels. Issues of corruption within the JCF, community policing, and the utilisation of technology are central to this conversation.
OvERHAUL THE BAND-AID APPROACH
Our faltering justice system that is being held together by a Band-Aid approach needs to be overhauled. Again, the leadership of the justice ministry that has thus far failed to produce legislation decriminalising/legalising ganja has become questionable. Our justice system is too weighted down by petty issues. We need a stand-down order on arresting people for a spliff. We can borrow money to fix roads and we can borrow money to fix the justice system.
The political leadership needs to call a joint session of Parliament to address the crime issue once and for all. We cannot continue the piecemeal approach on legislations that are full of false hope and have no teeth. We need comprehensive legislation to include mandatory sentencing for hard crime. Why do we have the highest crime rates in the Caribbean and one of the lowest incarceration rates? How come?
And, we the people, have a significant role to play in solving our crime problem. Our culture of violence and the sanctity of life must become central to our conversation. We must revisit our language and treatment of children in terms of the culture of violence. We must place greater emphasis on supporting our policing efforts. And we must take responsibility for ourselves and not wait for divine intervention. Lying, stealing, corrupting, scamming, etc, are all contributors to criminality. Respect for the rule of law must become part of our civility.
We cannot solve crime with a one-legged approach. Solving crime requires a four-legged approach (police, justice, politicians, and people). The four-legged approach has been successful in other countries. New York City (NYC) experienced more than 2,000 murders annually in the early '90s. In 2013, the number of murders in NYC was 333, an astonishing decline. NYC solved its crime problem not only with increased funding, but also by electing politicians who listened to the cries of the people.
It is shameful that we have spent most of the past 25 years rated as one of the most murderous countries in the world. It is more shameful that we have done very little to change this.
MACGREGOR