Enforce loitering, vagrancy laws to solve crime problem
Published:Friday | July 26, 2024 | 12:06 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
I believe that in order to solve or prevent a lot of Jamaica’s current crime problem, stakeholders should take a look at enforcing loitering and vagrancy laws.
Enforcing these laws, then following up with social programmes, will get a lot of these young and older men off the streets, get a skill, and find formal employment. For older men who are ashamed of starting over, I believe that some really nice programmes can be implemented for them to earn a modest living. It’s really hard selling this idea when the minimum wage in Jamaica is so low and when most of these people believe in fast money, whether legally or illegally, and no matter who gets hurt in most cases. We have to encourage more of our people as leaders to lean onto their moral compass.
I am not oblivious to the plight of poor people and why some choose or have to go out there on street corners on a daily to make their bread. It’s just that some of these people are criminals looking to commit what they deem ‘small crimes’. I am calling on our leaders to enforce these laws, then follow up by ramping up social programmes to address the plight and living conditions of homeless and mentally ill people.
The solution to Jamaica’s crime problem lies in revamping and enforcing a lot of the laws found in our Towns and Communities Act. Enforcement will have to go in tandem with ramped up social programmes to get to the root of the problem facing these people, so that they can either find their homes, be placed in homeless facilities, get a skill, formal employment, or be in school. I hope that our current national security stakeholders will take this suggestion and run with it, irrespective of which side of the political fence they are on.
If our leaders want Jamaica to be the place of choice to live, work, invest and retire, they will have to do more to address the lawlessness. This will not only be for the benefit of locals, but for the benefit of a lot of future tourists wanting to come to our country and not be preyed on.
Cleaning up the streets of suspected idle individuals looking to prey on and harass innocent people will go a far way in making locals and tourists alike feel safer in our numerous business districts scattered across the island. I also believe that it will have other far-reaching benefits, like preventing the formation of gangs, which might lead to more serious and organised crime.
SHANICA BLAIR