Peter Espeut

Has the link between politics and violence been cut? The Commissioner of Police doesn't think so. He is in possession of intelligence which allows him to make a public statement predicting a violent election campaign. At the same time, murder and gun crime are big in the news, and there is talk of a new anti-crime strategy.

We have a history of political thuggery which does not allow either political party to respond properly to the Commissioner's statement. If the political parties support the Commis-sioner's assertions (and the intelligence behind it), then it means admitting they have been arming their supporters to further their political ambitions. If they deny them and claim they are false, then they would be undercutting the Commissioner of Police and the credibility of the nation's intelligence services.

So both political parties sit tight, and say nothing. And the status quo remains. And the Government announces that they have a new (but secret) anti-crime strategy.

What anti-crime strategy could possibly work, other than cutting the links between politics and thuggery once and for all, and cleaning up the police force? Can we have progress in Jamaica alongside dons with their militias in garrison constituencies: war between One Order and Klansmen in Spanish Town; war on Mountain View Avenue; war in Montego Bay?

If what we had was a crime problem pure and simple, then one could argue that the number of criminals is limited, and all we have to do is take them out; and then Jamaica would be relatively peaceful and crime-free. But if what we have is a political SYSTEM based on defending political turf - politically homogeneous enclaves patrolled by armed enforcers - then removing the current set of political criminals would simply create space for the SYSTEM to empower a new set.

I have been writing about this for 15 years, to no avail. There is an unwillingness among politicians to bring this system to an end because they benefit; the system works for them. Both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition represent the archetypal garrison constituencies of their parties.

Evil system

The Minister of National Security and the Minister of Finance were prominent at the orange funeral some years ago of a questionable garrison character. When I ask politicians I know (from both parties) -- those I believe to be of good character - how they could be associated with such an evil system, they invariably answer that they know it goes on in their party, but since they don't personally do it, their conscience is clear. Have they never heard of 'guilt by association'.?

The private sector pays for this system, one way or another. It always amazes me that the same businessmen who fund the two political parties (whose 'quid' ends up in the garrisons) are the same ones who complain (after they get their 'quo') that crime and violence is hurting their businesses.

Two weeks ago a businessman told me he has had to abandon his Red Hills Road office because he could no longer manage to pay weekly extortion to the political dons. The private sector pays for this system, one way or another, and they share in the 'guilt by association'.

We know that elements in the police force are corrupt, but who corrupted them first? What is the connection between politics and police corruption? Parallel with our history of political thuggery is a history of not one politician ever being arrested for distributing guns, or for association with a political militia. Are we able to solve these problems ourselves?

Hiring former Scotland Yard policemen in senior positions in the Jamaican police force has led to the arrest and conviction of prominent garrison enforcers. Apparently, the Commissioner of Police presently has information connecting politics to violence or the implements of violence, otherwise he would not be able to make his bold assertion.

Let us bring the connection between politics and violence to an end once and for all. I call on the Commissioner to act on his information, and let the chips fall where they may! I call on decent elements in the private sector to hold off on political funding until there is some serious commitment to ending this evil system.