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People did not want to extend the State of Emergency because in Jamaica is it simple a simply legal authority to reduce the population of criminals by killing them. We cannot rely on such methods for very long.
Editorial
Gov't awaiting divine intervention as crime mounts
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
In the aftermath of the security forces operation in Tivoli Gardens in May 2010 to arrest Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, the Government of the day sought to extend a State of Public Emergency that was limited to sections of Kingston and St Andrew.
The rationale for the proposed extension was that the measure had reaped great success in the fight against crime. Criminals were in retreat — most went into hiding — and a sense of order was returning to the country.
Members of the Island Special Constabulary Force carry the coffin of their slain colleague Ariana Henry from the church to the hearse. (PHOTOS: KARL McCLARTY)
Stupidly, the then Opposition, which now forms the Government, rejected the proposals in what appeared to be a vote-catching exercise.
The arguments they advanced at the time were that the conditions to justify a State of Emergency, as set out in the Jamaican Constitution, did not exist, and that there were adequate powers in the Constabulary Force Act, including cordon and search, to effectively deal with crime.
Although then Prime Minister Bruce Golding pointed out that the crime rate had reached record levels, despite the cordon and curfew powers being in place since 1994, the Opposition and civil society groups continued to howl in protest, resulting in the attempt for the extension being aborted.
The upshot is that the advantage that the State had gained in its long battle against crime has now been lost.
We hold firmly to the view that, had the measure been extended, more criminal networks would have been dismantled and more of the evil, callous criminals that are now killing and robbing Jamaicans at whim would now be properly ensconced in quarters reserved for people who believe that the law does not apply to them.
As it now stands, these hoodlums are again running freely across the country, leaving families to grieve and damaging Jamaica's good name.
The heartless murder last month of seven months pregnant Ms Sasha-Gay Coffie in Portmore, St Catherine; 65-year-old retired postmistress Ms Nathlee Hamilton in St Ann on November 11; as well as that of 23-year-old Special Constable Ariana Henry in Portmore on October 25; the obvious murder of 56-year-old retired Special Sergeant Kenneth Lynch at his home in St Andrew; and this week's robbery and murder of MoBay businessman Mr Clinton Young are just a few examples of the more memorable killings in the country lately.
Add to that, the reports we have been receiving in our newsroom of brazen daylight robberies being committed in downtown Kingston and in Portmore and you get a picture of a State on the verge of being overrun by the lawless.
Amazingly, the response to all this from the Government has been deafening silence. And that is compounded by the absolutely imbecilic argument advanced by some people that men with illegal guns should not be classified as gangsters because they really just have these weapons of death to "defend" their communities.
The Government can't be so focused on the country's economic challenges that it neglects the social problems. For, in fact, both are inextricably linked.
The investments we so greatly need will not flow with this level of crime taking place or with a Government to be twiddling its thumbs and merely awaiting divine intervention.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/edito...#ixzz2lEZgY3rN
Editorial
Gov't awaiting divine intervention as crime mounts
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
In the aftermath of the security forces operation in Tivoli Gardens in May 2010 to arrest Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, the Government of the day sought to extend a State of Public Emergency that was limited to sections of Kingston and St Andrew.
The rationale for the proposed extension was that the measure had reaped great success in the fight against crime. Criminals were in retreat — most went into hiding — and a sense of order was returning to the country.
Members of the Island Special Constabulary Force carry the coffin of their slain colleague Ariana Henry from the church to the hearse. (PHOTOS: KARL McCLARTY)
Stupidly, the then Opposition, which now forms the Government, rejected the proposals in what appeared to be a vote-catching exercise.
The arguments they advanced at the time were that the conditions to justify a State of Emergency, as set out in the Jamaican Constitution, did not exist, and that there were adequate powers in the Constabulary Force Act, including cordon and search, to effectively deal with crime.
Although then Prime Minister Bruce Golding pointed out that the crime rate had reached record levels, despite the cordon and curfew powers being in place since 1994, the Opposition and civil society groups continued to howl in protest, resulting in the attempt for the extension being aborted.
The upshot is that the advantage that the State had gained in its long battle against crime has now been lost.
We hold firmly to the view that, had the measure been extended, more criminal networks would have been dismantled and more of the evil, callous criminals that are now killing and robbing Jamaicans at whim would now be properly ensconced in quarters reserved for people who believe that the law does not apply to them.
As it now stands, these hoodlums are again running freely across the country, leaving families to grieve and damaging Jamaica's good name.
The heartless murder last month of seven months pregnant Ms Sasha-Gay Coffie in Portmore, St Catherine; 65-year-old retired postmistress Ms Nathlee Hamilton in St Ann on November 11; as well as that of 23-year-old Special Constable Ariana Henry in Portmore on October 25; the obvious murder of 56-year-old retired Special Sergeant Kenneth Lynch at his home in St Andrew; and this week's robbery and murder of MoBay businessman Mr Clinton Young are just a few examples of the more memorable killings in the country lately.
Add to that, the reports we have been receiving in our newsroom of brazen daylight robberies being committed in downtown Kingston and in Portmore and you get a picture of a State on the verge of being overrun by the lawless.
Amazingly, the response to all this from the Government has been deafening silence. And that is compounded by the absolutely imbecilic argument advanced by some people that men with illegal guns should not be classified as gangsters because they really just have these weapons of death to "defend" their communities.
The Government can't be so focused on the country's economic challenges that it neglects the social problems. For, in fact, both are inextricably linked.
The investments we so greatly need will not flow with this level of crime taking place or with a Government to be twiddling its thumbs and merely awaiting divine intervention.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/edito...#ixzz2lEZgY3rN
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