It wasn't me, Mr Dabdoub LAWYER AND now legislator, Mr. Abe Dabdoub in a Gleaner article entitled "Who's to Blame" (Gleaner June 29, 2001) claims that I "took issue with certain figures and conclusions drawn by the JLP Youth Arm making comparisons between certain set of years". It wasn't me, Mr. Dabdoub. I did not challenge their figures. The article of June 12 challenged the JLP Youth Arm's claim that there was a relationship between economic growth and a fall in the crime rate between 1980-89. The article showed that the number of murders in 1980s increased over the figures of 1970s. The learned lawyer said in his article, "It is not my intention to get into the debate about crime and economic performance in this article". That cannot be, Mr. Dabdoub, because that was the central issue of the JLP that was being challenged. As a former president of the Youth Movement it is clear that you are disappointed with that argument and as an erudite lawyer you would not offer a defence. Well, at least you gave the Arm a slap on the wrist by not trying to defend that most weak argument. In addition, you provided information that showed that they were wrong when you said, "November 1980 to February 1989 - JLP government - 3,763 murders - 18.23 per cent more than the preceding government". Argument done! You raised some peripheral issues that do not affect the central issue by claiming that, "More significantly and relevant, is the reality of what emerges, when the grouping of the murders is done on the basis of the political administrations". Again, It wasn't me, Mr. Dabdoub, who failed to group them under political administrations. It was the Youth Arm who in a graphic graph in The Gleaner of June 8, 2001 had the following groupings of 1973-1980, 1980-1989 and 1989-1996. Unlike you, they did not put into the administrations of March 1972-October 1980, November 1980 to February 1989 and then March 1989 to December 2000. But, to be fair to the Youth Arm the implicit criticism by Mr. Dabdoub is unwarranted because the only two important variables to prove a point that there is a relationship between economic growth and murders are the figures on growth and murders irrespective of the period. Fig 1, Trend of Murders 1965-99. This graph shows that the murders have been steadily increasing since 1965 so it does not matter which groups of consecutive years one selects. Any period or grouping will show that proving a casual relationship between growth and murders will be most difficult. The arguments of casual relations can be dangerous. The number of churches and denominations has increased phenomenally between 1965 and 1999. Does it mean that when there is an increase in the number of churches then the number of murders increase? Someone could claim that whenever the JLP is in opposition the crime rate increases. Does it follow that it is an attempt of the JLP to gain political power by violent means? The story of Job in the Bible illustrates that there is not always a relationship between suffering and evil committed by the one suffering. A pastor can be a good parent and the child becomes a dropout from school while the child of a jailbird can become a respectable MP. The able Mr. Dabdoub in a flash of inspiration asserted that, "The issue of the level and pattern of gun violence, organised violence and crime in general in our society is a far more complex multifaceted issue". It wasn't me who was claiming otherwise. Blame the JLP Youth Arm. The article of June 12, 2001 made multifaceted suggestions: The fight against criminality must concentrate on the high murder rate as a number one priority. There needs to be the political will to renounce murdering people as a means to gain or retain power a la Bruce Golding. There also has to be community action and support by citizens of the security forces. There has to be improvement in dispute resolution for domestic situations There has to be an equitable improvement in the social and economic conditions. Recently, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Francis Forbes announced a 16-point plan. Deja vu. In 1974, the then Prime Minister Michael Manley announced a 14-point plan that would help to win the war against crime. Since that time there have been 16,000 murders in this small population. From the time of Cain and Abel human beings have been struggling with the issue of murder. In Jamaica, the situation is very bad and many things have been tried with little success. The truth is no one knows what is the cure for murders and simplistic statements will not help the cause. It is therefore encouraging that I can agree with Mr. Dabdoub that serious crime is a complex issue even when he blames me for things I know not about. Devon Dick is the pastor of Boulevard Baptist Church.
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