So-so ZOSO security measures are not enough
OUR BEAUTIFUL island is blighted by high levels of crime. It is impossible to achieve, maintain or enjoy real [national] prosperity in an atmosphere of indiscipline, aggression, corruption, rampant criminality, and especially murders. To a greater or lesser degree, crime interacts with everything.
When crime began adversely affecting more and more lives, and we started sliding into social dismay, disarray and financial disaster, Prime Minister Andrew Holness used a Jamaica House press conference on September 1, 2017, to announce that the first zone of special operations (ZOSO) was to begin in Mount Salem and its environs.
The Law Reform (zones of special operations) Special Security and Community Development Measures Act was passed by the Houses of Parliament in 2017. It was intended to reduce crime, and concomitantly protect the human rights of the residents within the zone, while promoting community development with social intervention initiatives. That’s a very tall order; indeed, if any aspect of the proposed ZOSO faltered, the act would fall short of its intended purpose.
Sadly, and ironically, the maiden and sustained ZOSO in Mount Salem has fallen woefully short. Just recently, there was a double murder, then another killing and several shooting incidents. The ZOSO in Mount Salem is not unique. Other active ZOSO communities have experienced serious crimes, especially murders, while combined security forces personnel were very nearby.
Residents have reported that criminal elements are becoming desensitised to the police/military ‘occupation’. They time the security personnel and carry out their dastardly deeds right under their noses. Residents also complain that some security personnel are too relaxed, unaware, or are ‘looking’ the women. Other residents suggest that there needs to be frequent, regular, staggered patrols within the troubled communities so that the criminals will be unable to predict the movements of the security personnel. All agree that when the security personnel remain too stationary, the expected security measures are not as effective as they need to be to get a handle on crime.
HALF-HEARTED
In other words, the feeling is that the security aspect of ZOSO is so-so (limp). ZOSO is seen as half-hearted. There needs to be a blanketing of the communities under ZOSO. The criminal elements must feel suppressed by the sheer number of patrols. In fact, a resident of Mount Salem bemoaned, “I believe a big mistake was made in 2017 when the ZOSO was declared, they should have locked down the entire community and searched every single house. Had they done that, the troublemakers would not have been able to hide what they hide (guns) and run away, but they did, and now they are back here killing people again.”
The other vaunted aspect of ZOSO is social intervention. To that end, there was created a Social Intervention Committee comprised of at least 10 persons; it is found in the First Schedule (Section 23) of the act. The group for each ZOSO includes heads of the security forces or their nominees, government officials (including permanent secretaries) or their nominees, representative of the National Planning Institute, a Medical Officer of Health or nominee, a representative of the Social Development Commission, a representative of the National Works Agency, a representative of the National Water Commission, education officials, a person who the minister is satisfied is a representative of a bona fide community group active in the zone, a person who the minister is satisfied lives and works in the zone, and any other person or agency that, in the opinion of the minister, can assist with the work of the committee.
Despite all that, the social intervention has not borne fruit. The root causes of criminality within those communities are alive and well. So-so (singularly driven) security measures will never solve our crime problem. Many of our murders are being blamed on gang feuds, intergang rivalry and disputes over ill-gotten gains. However, the scammer business is not as lucrative as it once was, and the criminals are turning to brazen robberies and burglaries. Additionally, a growing problem is emerging with the business of extortion. Criminals have turned to this source of funding and widened their ‘net’ to include market and even streetside vendors.
Within a few hours of discussing extortion with a patient, I received a phone call from someone who lives and works abroad. Her voice trembled as she related that her mother had a stall in a market and that extortionists approached her. Her mother told them that she had 4 children to support and she could not afford to pay them. They returned and shot the innocent lady in the head.
Extortionists extract money from market vendors and collect whatever produce they feel like. No one is able to complain and the police are spread far too thin to stop them. Between the general volatility of our citizens, our penchant for extreme violence, the robberies, the murder for hire for any little dispute, the gang violence with frequent collateral damage, and the extortionists, it is no wonder that CNN repeatedly showed that embarrassing video of a young Jamaican man at the border between Mexico and the USA, enduring a torturous journey to seek asylum on the grounds that Jamaica is too violent and that he fears for his life.
So-so (limp and singularly driven) ZOSO will never achieve the crime reduction that we need desperately. Already, the criminals have adapted and become resistant to the measures; we must step up our game or suffer the consequences.