THE MURDER toll continues to rise unabated despite the special measures which have been instituted. Up to last weekend five violent deaths were recorded bringing the total to 838 with just three weeks remaining in year 2000.
This figure is alarming even though the police would seek to modify its impact on the basis that many of the fatalities have domestic causes and are therefore not easily preventable.
The same reasoning may well apply to what seems to be a spate of armed robberies committed at random by gunmen acting alone or in small groups.
A letter to the Editor, published in our Sunday Voices feature, is a graphic example of this level of criminality. The correspondent, writing from Kingston 6, said a friend was held up at her gate by gunmen who stole her car as her two sons watched.
The following day, the same thing happened to the writer's pastor. And recently a cousin and colleagues on a morning walk were held up; four months ago the writer and her husband were also held up at gunpoint.
Individuals in residential communities are not the only targets. An unreported number of business places have also been robbed at gun point, in the New Kingston area, for example. The mobility of gunmen these days suggests that the same may be true in the rural areas. Some instances come to light when killings result from armed robbery or through vigilante action by outraged rural folk.
We have no statistical basis on which to estimate the level of this type of criminality; but, as our letter writer suggests, the increasing wave of migration from the island may be attributable in part to the crime situation. Many who can afford it have resorted to private security for homes and collectively in some upscale communities.
It behoves the law-abiding to go about everyday pursuits of business or recreation with sensible precaution. We have to rely on and co-operate with the police especially now with the approach of the festive season.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner.
