Murders shifted to the back burner
THE ARRIVAL of the coronavirus and COVID19, the disease it causes, on our shores on March 4, 2020, by a person with a travel history from the United Kingdom has caused a seismic shift of national attention. Prior to the announcement of the first case on March 10, the problem of crime and violence, and murder, in particular, was the number-one concern of Jamaicans. Today, it is virtually absent from the agenda.
Undoubtedly, the focus on the virus is justified because of its potential to take lives and to damage an economy that experienced no growth for the last quarter of 2019 before coronavirus, according to the
Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). However, make no joke, crime still represents a clear and present danger, claiming many more lives than the virus so far. The daily press conferences and announcements by the prime minister and minister of health tell us of the number of persons tested and those infected. Up to now, the death rate from COVID-19 infection stands at 3, with 47 confirmed infections up to Friday. Compare this with the daily slaughter of our citizens at the hands of gunmen, and there is no daily press conference, no update, no mobilisation of any kind, no stimulus package, no islandwide dusk-to-dawn curfew.
The first quarter of 2020, with emergency powers promulgated in seven geographical areas covering seven parishes, saw a three per cent increase in murders.
The states of emergency (SOEs), which have failed to check the national murder rate, have now started to see a murder uptick even in the said areas with the “enhanced security measure”.
The commissioner of police and his new communication team have reacted by adopting a “bunker mentality”, locking out access to information in the false belief that hiding the problem will make it disappear. The regular pattern of sharing information with members of the National Security Council has ceased as the commissioner says, “I have to relook at the arrangements around these reports.” He went on, “Once the protocols, etc, have been ironed out, you’ll be communicated with.” That was his statement of March 26, 2020, and not a peep since.
Instead of new protocols, the commissioner has opted to censor vital information necessary for Jamaicans to manage in an increasingly dangerous public space in our country. We must all rely on the grapevine. It has also impaired the Parliamentary Opposition‘s ability to do proper analysis and make comments in the public space. This is clearly unacceptable and should be rectified immediately.
The January to March quarter performance, according to the Jamaica Constabulary Force Periodic Crime Statistical Review, shows that without serious policy adjustment, we are heading for a significant increase in murders for 2020. Shootings, though lower than 2019, are beginning to increase even in unlikely places such as rural communities.