Tweet
OCHO RIOS, St Ann — Former police commissioner turned politician, Lucius Thomas, believes that a gun amnesty, wherein thugs are asked to turn in their illegal weapons without the likelihood of facing criminal charges, is not the way to go at this time.
Thomas said that there were too many guns on the streets, adding that the illegal weapons were in the wrong hands. He believes that a gun amnesty would only bring in a few of the weapons, but would not get to the source or major people behind the guns.
"A gun amnesty will take off some guns, but it will not take off all the guns. That's not the way to go at this time, There are too many guns out there. The guns are in the wrong hands, and the hands that are not going to turn them in," Thomas said.
Thomas was responding to a recent article in the Sunday Observer which quoted national security minister, Senator Dwight Nelson, as saying that government was examining such a move.
The former top cop was addressing PNP supporters at a recent constituency meeting in Ocho Rios.
He said that the gun amnesty, by itself, could not remove the deadly weapons and curb crime.
He later told the Observer that the island's borders and ports had been open for many years and that guns continue to come in freely through various means, for the last 20 years.
"What after the amnesty?," he asked. "We have had the state of emergency and we still have not found most of the guns on the street, a lot of guns are left out there," Thomas said, adding that the illegal guns were sometimes not controlled by the persons who were caught with them.
"There are people in this society who influence the crime and violence and are still holding their positions. We have to remove those through intelligence coming from the police working with the community," Thomas said.
Thomas wants the police to use their intelligence gathering mechanisms, which he said has improved over the years, to get to the source behind the illegal guns. He believes that intelligence will be critical if Government is serious about removing the deadly weapon from the hands of criminals.
He said that government must also implement more social intervention programmes for troubled youth, if it wants to put a dent in criminal activities.
"It has to be the youth at risk, the issue of unemployment, finding jobs for idle hands, the infrastructure need to be taken care of education, educating our kids," Thomas said.
The former police chief urged party supporters and other citizens to continue supporting the security forces and their crime-fighting initiatives, adding that citizens had a great role to play in helping to tackle crime and violence.
Meanwhile, Opposition Senator KD Knight used the political platform Sunday to launch another attack on the honesty and credibility of Prime Minister Bruce Golding and his new stance against crime.
Senator Knight told cheering supporters that he was not impressed with the prime minister's sudden new front on crime.
"All of a sudden I begin to hear that the chief crime fighter in Jamaica is Bruce Golding... joke business, it's a joke, it's a serious joke though," said Knight.
The opposition senator also continued his criticism of the government and its handling of the extradition of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke and accused the prime minister of being the former West Kingston strongman's 'chief protector'.
Knight also took a swipe at Golding's approach towards the extension of the limited state of emergency which was imposed in Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine. The senator accused the government of having no intention of extending the state of emergency.
Senator Knight told supporters that they should launch what he called 'operation recovery' to rescue Jamaica from the ruling Jamaica Labour Party.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...mnesty_7867442
Thomas said that there were too many guns on the streets, adding that the illegal weapons were in the wrong hands. He believes that a gun amnesty would only bring in a few of the weapons, but would not get to the source or major people behind the guns.
"A gun amnesty will take off some guns, but it will not take off all the guns. That's not the way to go at this time, There are too many guns out there. The guns are in the wrong hands, and the hands that are not going to turn them in," Thomas said.
Thomas was responding to a recent article in the Sunday Observer which quoted national security minister, Senator Dwight Nelson, as saying that government was examining such a move.
The former top cop was addressing PNP supporters at a recent constituency meeting in Ocho Rios.
He said that the gun amnesty, by itself, could not remove the deadly weapons and curb crime.
He later told the Observer that the island's borders and ports had been open for many years and that guns continue to come in freely through various means, for the last 20 years.
"What after the amnesty?," he asked. "We have had the state of emergency and we still have not found most of the guns on the street, a lot of guns are left out there," Thomas said, adding that the illegal guns were sometimes not controlled by the persons who were caught with them.
"There are people in this society who influence the crime and violence and are still holding their positions. We have to remove those through intelligence coming from the police working with the community," Thomas said.
Thomas wants the police to use their intelligence gathering mechanisms, which he said has improved over the years, to get to the source behind the illegal guns. He believes that intelligence will be critical if Government is serious about removing the deadly weapon from the hands of criminals.
He said that government must also implement more social intervention programmes for troubled youth, if it wants to put a dent in criminal activities.
"It has to be the youth at risk, the issue of unemployment, finding jobs for idle hands, the infrastructure need to be taken care of education, educating our kids," Thomas said.
The former police chief urged party supporters and other citizens to continue supporting the security forces and their crime-fighting initiatives, adding that citizens had a great role to play in helping to tackle crime and violence.
Meanwhile, Opposition Senator KD Knight used the political platform Sunday to launch another attack on the honesty and credibility of Prime Minister Bruce Golding and his new stance against crime.
Senator Knight told cheering supporters that he was not impressed with the prime minister's sudden new front on crime.
"All of a sudden I begin to hear that the chief crime fighter in Jamaica is Bruce Golding... joke business, it's a joke, it's a serious joke though," said Knight.
The opposition senator also continued his criticism of the government and its handling of the extradition of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke and accused the prime minister of being the former West Kingston strongman's 'chief protector'.
Knight also took a swipe at Golding's approach towards the extension of the limited state of emergency which was imposed in Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine. The senator accused the government of having no intention of extending the state of emergency.
Senator Knight told supporters that they should launch what he called 'operation recovery' to rescue Jamaica from the ruling Jamaica Labour Party.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...mnesty_7867442
Comment