Tweet
'Implement surveillance cameras now'
Private sector's anti-crime proposals get supportTANEISHA LEWIS, Observer staff reporter lewist@jamaicaobserver.com
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Installing cameras on the streets and extending some police powers were among measures which emerged out of a spirited discussion yesterday by business executives and members of the legal fraternity, as crime continued to occupy the nation.
There was broad support for a raft of measures outlined by Cornwall Bar Association president, Clayton Morgan, and Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) head, Chris Zacca, at the latest in a series of news luncheons hosted by Observer chairman Gordon 'Butch' Stewart at the company's Beechwood Avenue headquarters in Kingston.
Stewart pledged the first $1 million towards the $20-million fund recently launched by private sector groups towards the Crime Stop reward for information campaign.
"Crime is out of control. I think our citizens are living in fear. I don't know of any citizen that goes out at night and isn't looking (nervously) behind his back." Stewart told the gathering. "You have a community that is crying out for protection."
He repeated his recent call for support for the police, saying: "Personally, I think the police are getting a bad rap. What I don't hear people talking about enough. is how many good police there are. At the end of the day, the force has to be motivated, has to be trained, has to be led in order to protect the citizens of this country."
However, Stewart, Jamaica's leading hotelier, argued that despite the limited resources to fight crime the police must first make better use of their own resources in order to generate any form of success.
"This business where you can't fight crime because you don't have 2,000 more cars or you can't fight crime because you don't have the high powered weapons [is not good enough]. You start fighting crime with what you have and motivate people around you and give some respect to the people that are out there exposed to the crime every day," he said.
Morgan disclosed that Justice Minister Dorothy Lightbourne had approached members of the legal fraternity with 15 recommendations outlining how her ministry proposed to deal with crime.
While he was not able to publicise the details of the recommendations, Morgan said if accepted, the proposals would transform the way the country dealt with crime.
"If these proposals, whether we agree with them or not, are accepted by the Government, they will be far-reaching in the way in which crime is dealt with in Jamaica," he said.
"It is a very difficult situation. Crime is out of control in the country and something has got to be done about it. It has to be cauterised. The question is how we do it?," asked Morgan.
At the same time, Morgan said the manner in which the security forces were given extra powers was of grave importance and must be taken into consideration. "Are we going to scoop up hundreds of thousands of young men and women?"
"We all know from experience that one has to be very careful of how much power we give to the security forces, because in a lot of instances they abuse these powers," he said.
The group, for the most part, endorsed the legislative changes proposed by the private sector bodies last week.
Zacca rehashed the suggestions which included mandatory imprisonment on conviction for any gun-related crime, DNA evidence, video evidence and three-strikes-you-are-out legislation, among others.
Calling for radical measures to control crime, which he said was destroying the economy, Morris Facey of Pan Jamaican Investment Trust Limited, declared: "We need to find some way, some way of dealing with crime and if necessary we lock everybody (criminal) up," he said. "What is clear is that there is no teeth in the justice system that is going to bring people to heel."
However, Veteran journalist John Maxwell insisted that the issue of community responsibility in terms of helping the police to bring criminals to justice was key.
"If you give people incentives to turn [people in], but if people have no incentive and they are terrified they will not do anything about it and will allow themselves to be victimised," he said. "We need to get at this level in the society to put strength in the people's hands so that they can take charge."
Mandeville Councillor Sally Porteous called for installation of surveillance cameras all over Jamaica and more street lights in dark and secluded areas.
"There are 100 small things that we can do to prevent crime. I believe that we need to heavily invest in cameras," she said, noting that: "The Manchester Chamber of Commerce is going to be paying for cameras to go in the town of Mandeville. It is going to cost $6 million, but the private sector have said that they will do this, and we need them everywhere, not just uptown, but we need them in all the streets."
Private sector's anti-crime proposals get supportTANEISHA LEWIS, Observer staff reporter lewist@jamaicaobserver.com
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Installing cameras on the streets and extending some police powers were among measures which emerged out of a spirited discussion yesterday by business executives and members of the legal fraternity, as crime continued to occupy the nation.
There was broad support for a raft of measures outlined by Cornwall Bar Association president, Clayton Morgan, and Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) head, Chris Zacca, at the latest in a series of news luncheons hosted by Observer chairman Gordon 'Butch' Stewart at the company's Beechwood Avenue headquarters in Kingston.
Stewart pledged the first $1 million towards the $20-million fund recently launched by private sector groups towards the Crime Stop reward for information campaign.
"Crime is out of control. I think our citizens are living in fear. I don't know of any citizen that goes out at night and isn't looking (nervously) behind his back." Stewart told the gathering. "You have a community that is crying out for protection."
He repeated his recent call for support for the police, saying: "Personally, I think the police are getting a bad rap. What I don't hear people talking about enough. is how many good police there are. At the end of the day, the force has to be motivated, has to be trained, has to be led in order to protect the citizens of this country."
However, Stewart, Jamaica's leading hotelier, argued that despite the limited resources to fight crime the police must first make better use of their own resources in order to generate any form of success.
"This business where you can't fight crime because you don't have 2,000 more cars or you can't fight crime because you don't have the high powered weapons [is not good enough]. You start fighting crime with what you have and motivate people around you and give some respect to the people that are out there exposed to the crime every day," he said.
Morgan disclosed that Justice Minister Dorothy Lightbourne had approached members of the legal fraternity with 15 recommendations outlining how her ministry proposed to deal with crime.
While he was not able to publicise the details of the recommendations, Morgan said if accepted, the proposals would transform the way the country dealt with crime.
"If these proposals, whether we agree with them or not, are accepted by the Government, they will be far-reaching in the way in which crime is dealt with in Jamaica," he said.
"It is a very difficult situation. Crime is out of control in the country and something has got to be done about it. It has to be cauterised. The question is how we do it?," asked Morgan.
At the same time, Morgan said the manner in which the security forces were given extra powers was of grave importance and must be taken into consideration. "Are we going to scoop up hundreds of thousands of young men and women?"
"We all know from experience that one has to be very careful of how much power we give to the security forces, because in a lot of instances they abuse these powers," he said.
The group, for the most part, endorsed the legislative changes proposed by the private sector bodies last week.
Zacca rehashed the suggestions which included mandatory imprisonment on conviction for any gun-related crime, DNA evidence, video evidence and three-strikes-you-are-out legislation, among others.
Calling for radical measures to control crime, which he said was destroying the economy, Morris Facey of Pan Jamaican Investment Trust Limited, declared: "We need to find some way, some way of dealing with crime and if necessary we lock everybody (criminal) up," he said. "What is clear is that there is no teeth in the justice system that is going to bring people to heel."
However, Veteran journalist John Maxwell insisted that the issue of community responsibility in terms of helping the police to bring criminals to justice was key.
"If you give people incentives to turn [people in], but if people have no incentive and they are terrified they will not do anything about it and will allow themselves to be victimised," he said. "We need to get at this level in the society to put strength in the people's hands so that they can take charge."
Mandeville Councillor Sally Porteous called for installation of surveillance cameras all over Jamaica and more street lights in dark and secluded areas.
"There are 100 small things that we can do to prevent crime. I believe that we need to heavily invest in cameras," she said, noting that: "The Manchester Chamber of Commerce is going to be paying for cameras to go in the town of Mandeville. It is going to cost $6 million, but the private sector have said that they will do this, and we need them everywhere, not just uptown, but we need them in all the streets."
Comment