Dear Editor,
I am writing in response to several recent letters addressing the issue of crime in Jamaica. Crime occurs in Jamaica because we currently have the perfect storm of malignant socio-economic and cultural factors driving it. This includes high rates of poverty and unemployment, lack of education and opportunities, male absenteeism and the epidemic of boys growing up fatherless, the disintegration of the family unit, a culture which glorifies violence, the perception of injustice and inequity across our society, and a rising tide of desperation, helplessness, hopelessness and frustration.
We do not need more research to tell us this. Common sense will suffice. The crime problem therefore will never be solved by simply purchasing bigger and better guns, killing or incarcerating more criminals, employing more policemen, forming more deadly police squads, firing more commissioners or ministers of national security, or implementing new crime plans. We have been doing all this for years to no avail!
The late Wilmot Perkins began telling us this decades ago. His words would prove prophetic, but unfortunately, and to our own detriment, we simply dismissed them as the worthless rantings of a bitter old man and moved on with our lives. As Christ himself once said: "A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives, and in his own home."
When will we learn that these short-term measures and crime plans are merely treating the symptoms but not the disease itself? Are we so blind that we cannot see, so foolish that we cannot understand, or so
short-sighted that we remain indifferent since we have not yet been personally touched by the monster of crime?
I am pleading with Jamaicans again to apply reason rather than rhetoric or emotion. Please recognise that we will only tame the monster of crime by correcting the deeply entrenched and malignant socio-economic and cultural factors which are driving it. This is, has been, and will always be the only way.
Jason Depass
jasondepass19@gmail.com
Crime -- Jamaica's perfect storm
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I am writing in response to several recent letters addressing the issue of crime in Jamaica. Crime occurs in Jamaica because we currently have the perfect storm of malignant socio-economic and cultural factors driving it. This includes high rates of poverty and unemployment, lack of education and opportunities, male absenteeism and the epidemic of boys growing up fatherless, the disintegration of the family unit, a culture which glorifies violence, the perception of injustice and inequity across our society, and a rising tide of desperation, helplessness, hopelessness and frustration.
We do not need more research to tell us this. Common sense will suffice. The crime problem therefore will never be solved by simply purchasing bigger and better guns, killing or incarcerating more criminals, employing more policemen, forming more deadly police squads, firing more commissioners or ministers of national security, or implementing new crime plans. We have been doing all this for years to no avail!
The late Wilmot Perkins began telling us this decades ago. His words would prove prophetic, but unfortunately, and to our own detriment, we simply dismissed them as the worthless rantings of a bitter old man and moved on with our lives. As Christ himself once said: "A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives, and in his own home."
When will we learn that these short-term measures and crime plans are merely treating the symptoms but not the disease itself? Are we so blind that we cannot see, so foolish that we cannot understand, or so
short-sighted that we remain indifferent since we have not yet been personally touched by the monster of crime?
I am pleading with Jamaicans again to apply reason rather than rhetoric or emotion. Please recognise that we will only tame the monster of crime by correcting the deeply entrenched and malignant socio-economic and cultural factors which are driving it. This is, has been, and will always be the only way.
Jason Depass
jasondepass19@gmail.com
Crime -- Jamaica's perfect storm
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