Devon Dick, Contributor
RECENTLY, FORMER sportsman, C Lloyd Allen reminded me that celebrating Black History Month in February, the shortest month in the year, symbolically shows that Blacks are being short-changed.
Why can't we celebrate another month? In fact, in England Black History Month is celebrated in October. In addition, the U.K. Black History month highlights Chinese and Indians. There, black means non-white and those who have been marginalised. When I speak of Blacks as being short-changed, it is not a reference to colour only, but to all who are oppressed.
Jamaicans are being short-changed over the crime situation. We are being told that getting British men in senior police positions will help with investigation and case presentation.
WONDERS
Remember when we were sold on PERF. This American model worked wonders in New York. So what has happened and what are the results? There is the police centre being built in Grants Pen, but how many of the other recommendations have been implemented and with what effect?
In 1974, former Prime Minister Michael Manley stated that we were going to win the war against crime. To do that, he outlined 14 drastic measures. What is the situation 31 years later? In the seventies, we had 2,686 murders, while in the eighties we had 4,870 and the nineties 8,186 murders and at the rate that we are going then 10,000 is likely for this decade.
And now, the 'mother of all measures', British police. Is that the real solution to the problem we face with crime and the murder rate? How long will it take for these British officers to make a difference? I hope I live long enough to eat my words that this is the wrong move.
Do we realise that being tough on crime is an issue for the next general election in the U.K.? Do we not follow the British media about the weaknesses in the police force there? Ask Queen Elizabeth about the security breaches at Buckingham Palace.
Late last year, a young police leader told me about some of the corruption in the force. He also recommended that I read chapter three of Dr. Anthony Harriott's book on Crime in Jamaica. The following day I saw Harriott, Senior Lecturer at the UWI, and told him I would be reading his book. He said that the information in the book (1997) was outdated and the situation is far worse now. He told me the 'runnings', which is unbelievable!
Do we really believe that after the Barnett Commission (1976); The Fraser Commission (1981); The National Advisory Council on Crime and Justice (1985); The Wolfe Report (1993) and the National Committee on Political Tribalism (1997) that the answer is to be found in foreign recruits? Did any of these studies recommend foreign recruits as a solution?
The truth is that we have the solution, but often the political will is lacking. Take for example, the Matalon report on tax reform. It is a step in the right direction, to shift the taxes from income and onto consumption. A committee member said that income tax is about twice the level of a wide range of other countries and that some sectors are not paying, while others are overburdened.
ATTEMPT
The income tax is onerous and hotel mogul John Issa along with others, has been saying this for years, and it is only now we are attempting to address the problem. Black people have been short-changed with this tax regime. But it is better late than never, though in the 1980s there was an attempt to streamline allowances.
In the 1980s when there was a reduction in the level of taxation, compliance did increase. Therefore, the better alternative is to double the tax threshold, thus lowering taxation, and based on previous experience, that will improve compliance.
Consequently, consumption will increase and therefore the tax coffers will augment. Increasing the percentage of taxation will lead to wealthy people avoiding tax, while black people will evade it.
Rev Devon Dick is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church and author of 'Rebellion to Riot: the Church in Nation Building'.
