Only days earlier, Mr Golding related, he and Mr Lewin met to discuss the state of crime in Jamaica and he had received no indication that the move was contemplated. By Mr Golding's account, both men undertook to meet more frequently.

The prime minister's statement suggests a lack of perceptiveness that belies both his intellect and experience. For whatever else might have contributed to Hardley Lewin's resignation, Mr Golding made it clear that, if not having totally lost confidence in the ability of the police commissioner to do the job, he was deeply dissatisfied with Mr Lewin's performance.

Same argument

The prime minister made that much known to the chairman of the Police Service Commission, Professor Gordon Shirley, and subsequently to the entire commission. And we can only suppose that he delivered the same argument in his meeting with Mr Lewin, the former head of the Jamaica Defence Force, who became police chief only two years ago.

Among the issues of concern to Mr Golding was that with 1,361 murders, or an average of 4.5 per day for the 10 months up to October 31, Jamaica could well repeat its record year for homicides - the 1,674 of 2005.

The Government did not believe that enough was being done to attack the problem and apparently felt the greater weakness was in execution rather than the crime-fighting strategies developed by the constabulary. The clear implication was that Lewin had to be held accountable and take responsibility.

But, as Mr Golding conceded, in his short stint as police chief, Rear Admiral Lewin attacked with courage and energy the corruption that is endemic in the constabulary. He also strove to instil within the force, often accused of arbitrary behaviour and extrajudicial killings, a respect for human rights. Clearly, the processes begun by Rear Admiral Lewin have a long way to go for completion and should be continued by his successor.

Willing to be held accountable

But whatever else might be the assessment of his stint as police commissioner, Rear Admiral Lewin was, obviously, willing to be held accountable for his performance. He also displayed a refreshing frankness in talking about constraints to law and order in Jamaica, as with his recent challenge to politicians to end the residual links between criminality and politics, including dismantling the zones of political exclusion - the so-called garrisons.

This recall is important in the context of the Government's embarrassingly slow and deliberate response to the United States' request for the extradition of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, the businessman and reputed Tivoli Gardens/West Kingston 'don', accused of gunrunning and drug smuggling. Despite all the explanations, the widely held belief that the Government's foot-dragging in determining whether there is a prima facie case against Mr Coke is because he is connected to Mr Golding's West Kingston constituency, considered a kind of ground zero for the governing Jamaica Labour Party. And there is the fear of an outbreak of violence if Mr Coke is extradited.

Such perceptions weaken any effort to clean up corruption in the society, including the police force, no matter how much material support was given to Mr Lewin, or will be given to his successor.

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