Tweet
These are desperate times
Monday, June 23, 2008
The crime data released by the police on Saturday are enough to make even the most nonchalant among us shudder. In fact, we really can't think of any Jamaican, anywhere in the world, who wouldn't now be deeply concerned by what is happening in this country of ours.
In normal societies, 199 citizens don't get slaughtered in a single month. Normal societies of our size do not experience 158 cases of shooting, 64 cases of rape, 20 cases of carnal abuse, 230 cases of robbery, 191 break-ins, and 27 cases of larceny all in one month.
In normal societies, the police are unlikely, in one month alone, to be recovering 57 illegal guns and 819 rounds of ammunition which, we are convinced, represent the mere tip of the massive arsenal of illegal weaponry in the country.
That, however, is the reality of Jamaica today. A Jamaica in which, as we have pointed out before in this space, we are faced with the fact of our mortality each day. For no one among us can be sure that we won't fall victim to the savagery being unleashed, almost at will, on the society by evil, ruthless criminals who have no respect for people's right to life and their freedom to enjoy that life.
One of the more chilling aspects of this wanton bloodletting is that the most vulnerable among us - women, children, senior citizens, the physically handicapped - are not spared the gunmen's wrath. In fact, they are regarded as easy targets to "mek a duppy" and earn stripes.
But spraying bullets into the bodies of defenceless people is really an evil act of cowardice that should be strongly condemned by the society at large, and moreso by the people in the very poor communities where these merchants of death wreak the most havoc by robbing families of their loved ones and destroying homes.
No one can deny that this is a society in crisis. And there are many inside and outside this country who have given up on us or are near to that point of capitulation. However, we do not believe that Jamaica is sick beyond saving.
We are clear, though, that re-establishing respect for law and order ought to be the Government's primary focus at this time. For without that, all the plans to improve our economy in order to provide a better standard of living for every Jamaican will come to nought.
We, therefore, support the recent proposal of preventative detention of criminal suspects as a short-term measure to deal with the current crisis. However, we do not believe that the measure should be imposed for more than seven days, nor do we believe that the authority to decide on who is so detained should rest with the police alone.
That, we hold, should be a function of the judiciary. For it is important that the police improve their investigative skills and develop a culture of gathering conclusive evidence before making arrests.
We know that strong efforts have been made to develop this culture, particularly at Operation Kingfish and the Major Investigation Task Force.
However, we were more than worried when we were informed recently by a knowledgeable security official that a man with 12 murder charges against his name is now out on bail, free to roam our streets.
Against that background, we suggest that our lawmakers look seriously at fast-tracking legislation to allow for the mandatory taking of DNA samples from suspects which, given the technology and its proven accuracy, would assist in quickly establishing innocence or the strong possibility of guilt.
Of course, we expect that the argument of abuse of people's human rights will be raised. However, we don't share the view that the mere twirl of a cotton swab inside someone's mouth constitutes a breach of human rights. After all, it is allowed in other jurisdictions that boast far better human rights records than Jamaica. And frankly, only people with something to hide would refuse to give DNA samples.
(jamaica observer)
Monday, June 23, 2008
The crime data released by the police on Saturday are enough to make even the most nonchalant among us shudder. In fact, we really can't think of any Jamaican, anywhere in the world, who wouldn't now be deeply concerned by what is happening in this country of ours.
In normal societies, 199 citizens don't get slaughtered in a single month. Normal societies of our size do not experience 158 cases of shooting, 64 cases of rape, 20 cases of carnal abuse, 230 cases of robbery, 191 break-ins, and 27 cases of larceny all in one month.
In normal societies, the police are unlikely, in one month alone, to be recovering 57 illegal guns and 819 rounds of ammunition which, we are convinced, represent the mere tip of the massive arsenal of illegal weaponry in the country.
That, however, is the reality of Jamaica today. A Jamaica in which, as we have pointed out before in this space, we are faced with the fact of our mortality each day. For no one among us can be sure that we won't fall victim to the savagery being unleashed, almost at will, on the society by evil, ruthless criminals who have no respect for people's right to life and their freedom to enjoy that life.
One of the more chilling aspects of this wanton bloodletting is that the most vulnerable among us - women, children, senior citizens, the physically handicapped - are not spared the gunmen's wrath. In fact, they are regarded as easy targets to "mek a duppy" and earn stripes.
But spraying bullets into the bodies of defenceless people is really an evil act of cowardice that should be strongly condemned by the society at large, and moreso by the people in the very poor communities where these merchants of death wreak the most havoc by robbing families of their loved ones and destroying homes.
No one can deny that this is a society in crisis. And there are many inside and outside this country who have given up on us or are near to that point of capitulation. However, we do not believe that Jamaica is sick beyond saving.
We are clear, though, that re-establishing respect for law and order ought to be the Government's primary focus at this time. For without that, all the plans to improve our economy in order to provide a better standard of living for every Jamaican will come to nought.
We, therefore, support the recent proposal of preventative detention of criminal suspects as a short-term measure to deal with the current crisis. However, we do not believe that the measure should be imposed for more than seven days, nor do we believe that the authority to decide on who is so detained should rest with the police alone.
That, we hold, should be a function of the judiciary. For it is important that the police improve their investigative skills and develop a culture of gathering conclusive evidence before making arrests.
We know that strong efforts have been made to develop this culture, particularly at Operation Kingfish and the Major Investigation Task Force.
However, we were more than worried when we were informed recently by a knowledgeable security official that a man with 12 murder charges against his name is now out on bail, free to roam our streets.
Against that background, we suggest that our lawmakers look seriously at fast-tracking legislation to allow for the mandatory taking of DNA samples from suspects which, given the technology and its proven accuracy, would assist in quickly establishing innocence or the strong possibility of guilt.
Of course, we expect that the argument of abuse of people's human rights will be raised. However, we don't share the view that the mere twirl of a cotton swab inside someone's mouth constitutes a breach of human rights. After all, it is allowed in other jurisdictions that boast far better human rights records than Jamaica. And frankly, only people with something to hide would refuse to give DNA samples.
(jamaica observer)