Mob violence against police has been encouraged

Prior to the nineties, it was not a popular practice to mob attack police officers, partly because the men who served then were not the type you tried that garbage with; and also because the police force was strongly supported by the Government in that era.

In addition, the force had not yet become the target of uptown money being spent against them through various organisations founded by banished politicians and ambitious activists.

The practice got its first steroid shot when a police officer was attacked by a mob at the corner of Waltham Park Road and Hagley Park Road in the late nineties during a bus strike. He defended himself and about eight hooligans were shot. This all played out on national television, with the officer rolling and firing as the rocks crashed at his helmet-less head.

Back in the early 2000s, a party of policemen was attacked when they attempted to stop a dance that had continued later than its licence allowed at a venue called La Roose in Portmore. The patrons attacked the police party with bottles, stones and gunfire. The police party defended themselves and people were shot.

The outcry against the two noted incidents were caustic, savage and venomous. This outcry came from the press, the man on the street, and, of course, the biggest parasites of all — the criminal rights organisations.

The result of the outcry was the laying of criminal charges against the policemen on Waltham Park Road and years of suspension before he was acquitted in a court of law. The other officers in the La Roose incident were also suspended and vilified in the press. It took about three years for them to be reinstated.

I remember having been in a hot debate about the incident with a member of the press. I asked him if he would have preferred that the police were beaten to death rather than use their guns and he said, “Yes, anything other than firing in a crowd”. I followed up with the question: “Even if the crowd is an attacking mob?”, to which he also said, “Yes”.

Well, last Saturday’s event in Cobbla District was the result of what happens when you do not fire at a mob when they attack you. They kill you.

Do you guys really prefer this result? Better yet, don’t all of you, who were so vocal about the police defending themselves when attacked by mobs, feel that you have somewhat given strength to the culture of attacking police officers as a mob?

Finally, don’t you feel even a little bit guilty that you might have played a part in the murder of Constable

Kirkland Plummer?

The response of the press and powerful vocal groups to specific incidents impacts the public’s conduct. This is why politicians do not embrace gunmen in the public arena anymore — because they are going to be attacked in the press.

This is very similar with respect to condemning any activity. If public opinion turns on the environmental practices of large companies or the reckless production of dangerous consumables, they are doomed. In whatever situation you name, public opinion impacts corporate conduct.

Public opinion also impacts public misbehaviour. So when you slaughter the officers who defend their lives, in the press and through organisational condemnation, you empower the hooligans to continue their activities.

Do not think for a minute that the effect is lost on the officer either. He has seen the way his country has destroyed his colleagues who fight back against mobs using deadly force. He will hesitate. In our world, hesitation under attack can be a deadly practice.

It is a difficult decision for anyone under attack from a mob to fire. No one really wants to harm that many people who, clearly, are not armed. I understand this. I can also understand the dichotomy that members of the public face when coming to judgement on whether to shoot at a mob of violent people.

I myself have been attacked by mobs on several occasions – in public venues and in squatter settlements. I have been blessed because none of the incidents have resulted in the loss of my life, mainly because I was not alone and the people who stood with me were from that aforementioned group of no-nonsense policemen.

I am worried about the effect that this common response may have on lawmen in the future. Will they start to ignore gunfire or persons screaming for help?

This can be a victory for hooliganism and brutality.

What can we do now? More importantly, what do the persons who helped to fuel this conduct plan to do?

Has any human rights organisation condemned the brutal slaying? I’m not sure. However, I am damn sure that if the officer had defended himself and laid 10 down, they would be all up in arms.

Even Germany acknowledged their role in the damage they did between 1939 and 1945. In addition, they have spent a lifetime trying to pay for the souls they sold.

What do all of you who played a part in the encouragement of mob violence against the police plan to do to redeem your souls?

Feedback: drjasonamckay@gmail.com