Kristen Gyles | Cash incentives and the fear factor

The biggest reason for the average Jamaican’s failure to report the crimes they witness is not that they want crime to continue. Rather, they want their lives to continue, and they feel that feeding law enforcement with information might just jeopardise that. There is a general perception that there is little to no state protection for informants, while on the other hand, we are reminded often by the miscreants that “informa fi dead”. So, while the criminals are promising death to informants, the state seems to be promising anything ranging from a pat on the back, to a cash gift, for your selflessness.

This is why it is always interesting to hear those who are holiest among us casting blame at the citizenry for the proliferation of crime. They say that it is because of the community’s silence that crime flourishes. Of course, there is a lot of truth to this, but context helps to put things in perspective.

Even seemingly insignificant details can sometimes help law enforcement kick-start their investigations in a meaningful manner when crimes are committed. That is, unless somewhere along the line, the information gets lost, gets corrupted or gets leaked, with the identity of those who provided it. This is the fear that many persons have, and that fear is what allows crime to flourish – not the love and admiration Jamaicans have for criminals, as the cynics insist.

LACK OF TRUST

First, there’s a general lack of trust for the police. The recently released findings of the Americas Barometer survey done by the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) Lab indicate that only one in three Jamaicans trust the police. In the same breath, over 60 per cent say they are willing to work with the police to reduce crime. Very interesting – we don’t trust the police but are willing to work with them. Cognitive dissonance at its finest.

So, what, if anything will get Jamaicans reporting more of what they know?

Recently, the prime minister announced a $50-million fund set up to award informants for providing information leading to the arrest of criminals throughout the Christmas season. It is difficult to speak to the effectiveness of the cash-flashing strategy, because although it has been in use from time immemorial, little reporting has been done on its results. Crime stop, for example, which is the basic model being mimicked here, has been in operation for years. What information has been garnered over the years regarding its effectiveness?

How many tips are submitted annually? How many associated arrests and charges? What other metrics are used to evaluate effectiveness? How many informants opt to receive cash rewards? How much is paid out annually in cash rewards? Much of this information could help with a refinement of the current strategy and an evaluation of the underlying assumption that people are simply not motivated enough to report crimes.

Intuitively, my guess is that money is worth nothing to someone who feels they might not be alive long enough to spend it. Offering cash to scared civilians to get them to speak seems like a dead end. But again, this is just conjecture, and I’m forced to make educated guesses because of the unavailability of the relevant data.

IMPACT OF CULTURE

And then we have to consider the impact of culture on how citizens perceive the very corruption we say we all fear. Jamaica is a relatively small country and it seems we all know each other.

A trip to the supermarket will often run you into familiar faces. Spend two hours standing in the bank line and you are almost bound to see two or three persons within your network stepping through the door at some point. One of the two or three will perhaps know someone working in the bank and will inevitably end up begging a ‘bly’ so that they won’t have to stand and wait two hours like you do.

In the same way that person benefits from favours because of who they know, criminals benefit from favours because of who they know. Sometimes who they know may happen to be an employee of the state or a powerbroker who holds some position of authority.

Because deep down we all know how tightly knit the Jamaican network is, we fear what may happen when the villains of society are the beneficiaries of personal favours. That is, the type of favours that tips them off on what the police know, and on who is responsible for the police knowing what they know. But, “same knife weh stick goat stick sheep”. Where there is no desire to eliminate corruption, it will continue, not just for those with supposedly harmless intentions but for ruthless criminals as well.

Crime-fighting will continue to be one of the biggest agenda items going into the new year. Going forward, a big part of the strategy must be to address the fear factor. Cash incentives may help, but only to the extent that people do not fear for their safety. On top of that, our strategies must be informed by the available data and can’t be driven simply by what we think should work. We are very creative in inventing new strategies, but how are we keeping tabs on whether they are actually working?

Kristen Gyles is a free-thinking public affairs opinionator. Send feedback to kristengyles@gmail.com