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Grief grips! Raging hostility against the police breaks inner-city silence
Published: Sunday | March 25, 2012
Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer
They invariably scream 'bloody murder!' in the aftermath of shooting incidents involving the police, yet their silence is contrastingly thunderous even as rampaging hoodlums occupy their communities in the lead-up to face-off with law enforcers.
The deadly scenes are as predictable as night follows day.
On one side, the stoic silence of the people living in volatile communities erupts into cacophonies of protests and accusations as the barking guns die, along with human beings.
On the other side lurks the overpowering stench of anguish and grief that wracks the very fibre of these deprived inner-city communities - public protests and plaintive outcries targeting the police and fierce gun battles between supposed forces of good and evil.
But for Jamaicans, which side is good and which is evil - the lawmen or the gangsters? Residents seem uncertain, especially in the face of gun battles and killings.
JCF taking battering
The Owen Ellington-led Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is taking a battering for the deadly exchanges, but still the blood continues to flow and deaths spike in the aftermath of shootings.
In seeking to define the position to be adopted by crime-fighters, the high command suggests that among its strategic priorities is promoting respect for and protection of human rights and human dignity.
It is out of this that the Firearms and Use of Force Policy has been revised.
The High Command has promised that accompanying training and sensitisation efforts are the initiatives taken in pursuit of this priority.
For entire news report, see http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...ead/lead1.html
Published: Sunday | March 25, 2012
Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer
They invariably scream 'bloody murder!' in the aftermath of shooting incidents involving the police, yet their silence is contrastingly thunderous even as rampaging hoodlums occupy their communities in the lead-up to face-off with law enforcers.
The deadly scenes are as predictable as night follows day.
On one side, the stoic silence of the people living in volatile communities erupts into cacophonies of protests and accusations as the barking guns die, along with human beings.
On the other side lurks the overpowering stench of anguish and grief that wracks the very fibre of these deprived inner-city communities - public protests and plaintive outcries targeting the police and fierce gun battles between supposed forces of good and evil.
But for Jamaicans, which side is good and which is evil - the lawmen or the gangsters? Residents seem uncertain, especially in the face of gun battles and killings.
JCF taking battering
The Owen Ellington-led Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is taking a battering for the deadly exchanges, but still the blood continues to flow and deaths spike in the aftermath of shootings.
In seeking to define the position to be adopted by crime-fighters, the high command suggests that among its strategic priorities is promoting respect for and protection of human rights and human dignity.
It is out of this that the Firearms and Use of Force Policy has been revised.
The High Command has promised that accompanying training and sensitisation efforts are the initiatives taken in pursuit of this priority.
For entire news report, see http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...ead/lead1.html