THE EDITOR, Sir:
YOU HAVE recently published reports of disturbing suggestions and proposals for addressing Jamaica's crime problem. The two that come to the forefront are the proposal to give the Jamaica Defence Force arrest powers, and a suggestion to declare a State of Emergency. Both of these pose a greater threat to the law-abiding citizen, than they do to the armed criminals that are terrorising us.
The Jamaica Defence Force is a military organisation, not a law-enforcement agency. The JDF is not designed to be in crime-fighting at all, nor should it be. There have been arguments that Jamaica is not at war with a foreign country, so our military resources should be tapped for our domestic war on crime. If we give our military the power to arrest civilians, then how different would we be from Pinochet's Chile or Galtieri's Argentina?
RECRUIT MORE
POLICE OFFICERS
I say if we need additional crime-fighting capability, then recruit more police officers; if necessary, increase the size and resources of the Mobile Reserve. They have the training to handle the more serious criminal issues, but remain civilian police officers with arrest powers.
The suggestion to declare a State of Emergency is just as ludicrous. It suggests that the Government does not now have the necessary legal authority to address crime. The Suppression of Crimes Act has already stripped most of our basic human rights, and has helped
create an adversarial relationship between the police and the people. A State of Emergency would only exacerbate that situation, and would probably encourage the Government to turn their attention to political adversaries, as happened in 1976.
We need to deal with crime in three phases: address the social issues that breed crime (joblessness, poverty, hopelessness), create a trust between the police/government and the people (community policing, more personal interaction between police officers and
civilians), and enforcement.
I am, etc.,
STEFAN BRAND
anynamethatworks@hotmail.com
Via Go-Jamaica
