Cop’s murder another stain on Jamaica
THE killing of a policeman by a mob in Clarendon on the night of Saturday, September 7, has received the condemnation that it deserves from most. But it goes beyond that.
Here, based upon reports, Constable Kirk Plummer was a representative of law and order, who chose to do what he swore to — serve, protect and reassure — only for others who have their own agendas to cut a dream short.
I have no issue with the slain man’s private life, from his days at the GC Foster College of Physical Education and Sport, to when he became a seasoned member of the force … as some time wasters on social media are putting forward. My interest lies in how cruel people of this country can become when it relates to their fellowmen.
Sometime ago, I made the point that Jamaicans were not entirely nice people, and some individuals took exception to that. But then, how can we talk about being nice people when we kill over 1,000 of our own each year, with disdain?
If we are so nice to one another, and care about their welfare, as is being pushed across all platforms, why then are we so brutal? And that’s only part of the problem. When you travel on the roads, the attitude of other drivers, in particular, taxi and minibus operators, supports the point that we are making a mockery of the word ‘nice’. If somebody ‘bad drives’ you, and should, naturally, apologise, you can bet that you will be met with the kind of adjectives that the Oxford Dictionary is still investigating. In addition, suggestions that you do impractical things to your mother, dead or alive, are often thrown into the mix. But back to Constable Plummer…what a brutal way to attack anyone, worse, a law enforcer? I have always felt that anyone who kills, or contributes to the death of a representative of law and order must be given a tougher punishment than the ordinary.
In this case, even the promoter of the party should be charged with being an accessory to murder, because if the event was not being held, and past its time, it is unlikely that the constable would have died.
Why can’t Jamaicans hear? The State leadership says get-togethers should be limited to a certain number of people, and must cease by a certain time, yet some people remain hard of hearing. The tomfoolery must stop. The law must be supreme.