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PNP: The Party Of Crime?
Published: Wednesday | February 1, 20120 Comments
Din Duggan
By Din Duggan
"Bwoy, yu waan see seh since Mama P tek ova, traffic start ease up pon the Boulevard."
"Since PNP tek it, nutten nah gwaan fi mi again, mi just lose the likkle day's work uppa Jacks Hill."
"Bwoy, since the Comrade dem come in, Din Duggan column nah seh nutten again."
"Since PNP win, the man dem start move wild again wid the gun ting."
People have a tendency to attribute random events to the occurrence of other contemporaneous but similarly random events - finding causation where only correlation exists.
In the days following the PNP's general election landslide, the police reported a spike in homicides. I overheard a number of normally rational individuals declare the PNP's ascent as the cause. Before Portia's speechwriter had even penned the prime minister-designate's inaugural address, her party was being blamed for an increase in crime.
Let's illustrate the preposterousness of that claim. Imagine the following scenario:
Badman A: Bredren, yu nah watch TVJ? How the election a go?
Badman B: Bwoy, it early still, but it look like seh JLP tek it again, so go easy.
Badman A: Jah know, star, yu know seh mi gun finger a itch mi from when!
Badman B: Wait deh, the Ras win; and Montague lose; look like the Comrade dem have it!
Badman A (in a celebratory tone): Wha? Nuh seh nutten more; pass mi 'matic. Mi a go pon a killing spree!
Foolish, indeed.
Fleeing Jamaica
In the election's aftermath, a number of my acquaintances, in fits of rage and irrationality, publicly expressed their newborn intentions to flee Jamaica. "Wonderful," I thought. "Perhaps I could score some cheap real estate, or at least a decently priced car." But I also wondered why so many would harbour such intensely passionate feelings against living in a country governed by the PNP.
Sure, 18 and a half years of sustained economic erosion might be to blame. But, the past several years under the JLP, despite a handful of notable successes, was certainly no cakewalk.
As the early-year crime surge abated - falling from five murders per day to two - so did the furies of would-be uptown refugees. Certain sentiments remain, however. It appears the PNP is viewed, in some segments of society, as the party of crime and disorder.
The evidence is compelling. In the party's previous run, murders increased from 400 in 1989, the first year of its new term, to nearly 1,600 in 2007, its last - a 300 per cent increase. By these measures, the PNP is soft on - perhaps even good for - crime.
Both Parties Inept
Before we issue an orange alert, officially labelling the PNP as the party of disorder, take a moment to reread my first paragraph (I'll wait). The same forces that lead us to mistake correlation for causation in other circumstances are also at work in our assessment of the PNP's record on crime.
Homicides quadrupled under the previous PNP government, but was that increase inherently caused by the PNP? The JLP might have very well presided over a similar surge, if given the opportunity. Indeed, the numbers support such a contention. In 2006, the PNP's last full year in government, the country recorded 1,340 murders. By the end of 2009, after just over two years of JLP leadership, homicides stood at a record 1,683 - a 30 per cent increase. The JLP proved itself to be as incompetent as the PNP at controlling and reducing homicides.
Ultimately, Jamaica's first sustained decline in crime in recent memory was not attributable to any policy impetus, any fearsome-sounding crime initiative or any public declarations by the likes of Dwight 'I Cannot Recall' Nelson or the guy from DB&G.
If not for an extradition request, a hapless prime minister, a defiant drug lord, and security forces given the freedom - by Government and broader society - to do their job, we may have never witnessed murders plunge from the record 1,683 in 2009 to 1,125 last year.
The blueprint is clear. Photo ops and White Papers won't cripple the crime monster. What will is the continued execution of the bare-knuckled assault that has yielded substantial results over the past two years. If we exhibit the national will to continue, and even ramp up, the attack on crime, while simultaneously implementing wide-scale social interventions and justice reforms, Jamaica will, undoubtedly, become a peaceful and orderly society - no matter who occupies the halls of power.
But if you still intend to run away, shoot me an email; I need a good deal on a car.
Din Duggan is an attorney working as a consultant with a global legal search firm. Email him at columns@gleanerjm.com or dinduggan@gmail.com, or view his past columns at facebook.com/dinduggan and twitter.com/YoungDuggan.
Published: Wednesday | February 1, 20120 Comments
Din Duggan
By Din Duggan
"Bwoy, yu waan see seh since Mama P tek ova, traffic start ease up pon the Boulevard."
"Since PNP tek it, nutten nah gwaan fi mi again, mi just lose the likkle day's work uppa Jacks Hill."
"Bwoy, since the Comrade dem come in, Din Duggan column nah seh nutten again."
"Since PNP win, the man dem start move wild again wid the gun ting."
People have a tendency to attribute random events to the occurrence of other contemporaneous but similarly random events - finding causation where only correlation exists.
In the days following the PNP's general election landslide, the police reported a spike in homicides. I overheard a number of normally rational individuals declare the PNP's ascent as the cause. Before Portia's speechwriter had even penned the prime minister-designate's inaugural address, her party was being blamed for an increase in crime.
Let's illustrate the preposterousness of that claim. Imagine the following scenario:
Badman A: Bredren, yu nah watch TVJ? How the election a go?
Badman B: Bwoy, it early still, but it look like seh JLP tek it again, so go easy.
Badman A: Jah know, star, yu know seh mi gun finger a itch mi from when!
Badman B: Wait deh, the Ras win; and Montague lose; look like the Comrade dem have it!
Badman A (in a celebratory tone): Wha? Nuh seh nutten more; pass mi 'matic. Mi a go pon a killing spree!
Foolish, indeed.
Fleeing Jamaica
In the election's aftermath, a number of my acquaintances, in fits of rage and irrationality, publicly expressed their newborn intentions to flee Jamaica. "Wonderful," I thought. "Perhaps I could score some cheap real estate, or at least a decently priced car." But I also wondered why so many would harbour such intensely passionate feelings against living in a country governed by the PNP.
Sure, 18 and a half years of sustained economic erosion might be to blame. But, the past several years under the JLP, despite a handful of notable successes, was certainly no cakewalk.
As the early-year crime surge abated - falling from five murders per day to two - so did the furies of would-be uptown refugees. Certain sentiments remain, however. It appears the PNP is viewed, in some segments of society, as the party of crime and disorder.
The evidence is compelling. In the party's previous run, murders increased from 400 in 1989, the first year of its new term, to nearly 1,600 in 2007, its last - a 300 per cent increase. By these measures, the PNP is soft on - perhaps even good for - crime.
Both Parties Inept
Before we issue an orange alert, officially labelling the PNP as the party of disorder, take a moment to reread my first paragraph (I'll wait). The same forces that lead us to mistake correlation for causation in other circumstances are also at work in our assessment of the PNP's record on crime.
Homicides quadrupled under the previous PNP government, but was that increase inherently caused by the PNP? The JLP might have very well presided over a similar surge, if given the opportunity. Indeed, the numbers support such a contention. In 2006, the PNP's last full year in government, the country recorded 1,340 murders. By the end of 2009, after just over two years of JLP leadership, homicides stood at a record 1,683 - a 30 per cent increase. The JLP proved itself to be as incompetent as the PNP at controlling and reducing homicides.
Ultimately, Jamaica's first sustained decline in crime in recent memory was not attributable to any policy impetus, any fearsome-sounding crime initiative or any public declarations by the likes of Dwight 'I Cannot Recall' Nelson or the guy from DB&G.
If not for an extradition request, a hapless prime minister, a defiant drug lord, and security forces given the freedom - by Government and broader society - to do their job, we may have never witnessed murders plunge from the record 1,683 in 2009 to 1,125 last year.
The blueprint is clear. Photo ops and White Papers won't cripple the crime monster. What will is the continued execution of the bare-knuckled assault that has yielded substantial results over the past two years. If we exhibit the national will to continue, and even ramp up, the attack on crime, while simultaneously implementing wide-scale social interventions and justice reforms, Jamaica will, undoubtedly, become a peaceful and orderly society - no matter who occupies the halls of power.
But if you still intend to run away, shoot me an email; I need a good deal on a car.
Din Duggan is an attorney working as a consultant with a global legal search firm. Email him at columns@gleanerjm.com or dinduggan@gmail.com, or view his past columns at facebook.com/dinduggan and twitter.com/YoungDuggan.
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