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Abuse-free crime plan needed

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Dear Editor,

Crime and violence are eating away further at Jamaica with every passing day. It has been reported that there has been a nine per cent increase in murder, when compared to last year, and up to the first week in November of this year there were 1,040 on record. The government, through the police, has therefore recently introduced curfews in certain communities in the Corporate Area and five parishes in an effort to contain the escalation of crime.

However, what is the government's overarching policy for dealing with crime in Jamaica, and is this escalation of crime to be regarded the result of a failed policy?

If the policy has indeed failed, what now is the new policy? Certainly, the new policy cannot be solely measures such as curfews, which deny citizens certain fundamental rights and freedoms?

There have been several scholarly and well-thought-out positions on how to deal with the crime problem in Jamaica. We have tried many approaches, but unfortunately, however, these have primarily focused on the use of force or the denial of certain rights. Draconian measures -- such as the Gun Court Act, the Suppression of Crime Act, the shoot first and ask questions later 'philosophy' -- have not and will not work.

Let us accept that it is the Government's responsibility for maintaining law and order. In doing so, it uses the police force as one of its agents. If that agency has lost the respect of the majority of Jamaica, then it is rendered ineffective.

My humble suggestion to the Government, therefore, is to establish if that is so and then deal with the police force. It certainly cannot be business as usual with the same failed policy and/or agents.

Finally, central to any new crime policy should be a non-acceptance of abuse of the rights of every single Jamaican by members of the security forces. A very strong message should be sent to the security forces that the Government will not support, condone, or tolerate such abuses.

Colonel Allan Douglas

alldouglas@aol.com

Abuse-free crime plan needed

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