Dead wrong on crime

I’M TALKING about the crime situation: the Government doesn’t know what it’s doing. But I’m guessing that many sensible observers concluded that a long time ago. I hadn’t figured it out till just now. So, on the other hand, if you’re shocked by that news, I’m sorry I have to be the one to tell you.

You see, when I read about the PM saying that he won’t divulge the elements of his “crime plan” because criminals might hear it, I know we’ve entered the realm of absurdity. Dat nuh mek NO sense!

Obviously, outlining to the populace, which is hungry to know that somebody gives a s**t about the madness going on, is not about telling the criminals exactly what you’re going to do next.

To belabour the point, it is surely possible to say, “We are going to improve intelligence gathering by taking steps A, B, C and D, and we are going after the masterminds of the criminal underworld who are seeding this carnage”, without telling ‘Bap’, ‘Cat’, ‘Brutus’, ‘Fishy’, and ‘Boogie’ that you intend to apprehend them on such and such a date and in such and such a manner.

In fact, sharing some useful information could very well inspire some public confidence (which is currently at zero) and might even deter Bap, Cat, Brutus, Fishy, and Boogie. Because everything tells us that criminals are deterred by the likelihood of being caught and punished, but also emboldened, if they believe that they will not be either caught or punished.

In case you’re wondering, Bap, Cat, Brutus, Fishy, and Boogie are the men who the police have warned the public are linked to the horrific shootings in Grange Hill, Westmoreland. That’s where they’ve slaughtered seven people in the space of one night, including two children, and shot a bunch of others.

PM CLUELESS

So when we hear that kind of talk from the PM, sadly, it means that it’s far more likely that he doesn’t have an idea about what he’s going to do next. And I truly believe that’s demonstrably the case. ZOSO is a failure, and the states of public emergency have pretty obviously just pushed the criminals into adjoining parishes to swell the murder rates there.

The trouble is that while the Government has no plan, the criminals clearly do. So you better believe that there IS a crime plan, but it’s the wrong set of people who have it.

Then on top of that come the words of new National Insecurity Minister Horace Chang: “The perpetrators are ... literally animals. We have to track them down, find them, and get rid of them.” Further, if they engage the security forces, the minister “will not tell them to call an ambulance”.

This! In a country where Keith Clarke is riddled with bullets in his own house and then the shooters are issued certificates of immunity. For the life of me, I still don’t understand that.

It’s not as if there’s an ambulance to be called for anyone in most parishes in the country, so that statement by Chang, though designed to make him seem like a harsh Stone Crusher, is mostly a redundant retelling of a social outrage that The Gleaner has had reason to comment upon. The truth is rather more mundane: There’s no ambulance to call for suspected criminals because there’s no ambulance to call for anyone!

All of which leads me quite naturally into the car-buying habits of Jamaica’s political class. Whereas millions may be spent on ministerial carriages and footmen, and more millions squandered on hare-brained and possibly corrupt schemes to give the police used vehicles, it’s reported that the police heard gunshots in Grange Hill but were unable to transport themselves there.

I want you to pause and reflect on that for a moment because few happenings could expose so starkly the elemental rot at the heart of our troubles.

GREEN LIGHT TO ROGUE COPS

But back to Chang. It is also true that when police and soldiers themselves behave like outlaws, that itself multiplies our woes and guarantees a fresh crop of antisocial youths. So when the security minister, inadvertently or not, sends a green light and a “winkwink, nod-nod” to extrajudicial murder, you can be certain that it has been heard loud and clear by the rogue elements in the security forces, and, I might add, also by the criminals. Prepare, therefore, for worse and more violent confrontations.

My observations here are just a convenient shorthand so that I don’t spoil your Sunday morning too thoroughly with other gory details. I could wax on about the chronic underinvestment in security; the serious and seemingly intractable problem of corruption in the police force; the recent revelations of the falling black-market price for guns because of oversupply; Deputy Police Commissioner Hay’s report of the ease of importing illegal guns through the 145 unmanned ports, and, due to corruption, at the manned ones as well; and the debilitating and obstructing links between the political Establishment and senior crime figures. Actually, some members of the political Establishment ARE senior crime figures. We know this.

This is why I have had to draw the conclusion that I had heretofore resisted but is now inescapable: They don’t know what they’re doing! The situation is getting worse. The State is at full tilt with ZOSOs and SOEs, but crime is still climbing. We’re screwed. So may Bap, Cat, Brutus, Fishy, Boogie and, oh yeah, God, have mercy on us all.

Daniel Thwaites is an attorney-atlaw. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.