CRIME AND violence have now reached a level in Jamaica that calls for a psychological state of emergency in which our leaders would, by their words and actions, demonstrate how serious the situation is and call on the nation to face the crisis.
Dr. Peter Phillips, Minister of National Security, made a start in this direction when he warned Parliamentarians to sever their connections with known drug dons but since his presentation in the House of Representatives the murder rate has continued to soar, culminating in 150 murders for June. If this continues, we are likely to exceed 1,400 killings for the year, a rate of 56 per 100,000 of the population. In London, at this rate, there would be 4,480 murders for a year whereas in fact, there were only 204 murders in that city for the twelve-month period to May 2004. Even New York has only about 700 murders a year. More Jamaicans are dying by the gun in one year than all American casualties in Iraq or those killed in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
The announced Cabinet sub-committee meeting to deal with issues of public order is simply not good enough. The Prime Minister, like Winston Churchill during World War II, should take personal control of the struggle to control crime, set up a command centre on a wartime basis and attempt to rally a new level of public support for the police and military. In emergencies, leadership must demonstrate a sense of priority, if only symbolically, and the Prime Minister rather than being preoccupied in Grenada with whether to recognise the new government in Haiti should be making it clear that he recognises the gravity of the crisis here.
If outside help is needed we must put aside nervous nationalism and request it. If the police and military need more resources they must be provided whether or not other fiscal targets are missed. We are facing slow death as a country and need to be reminded that self-preservation is the first law of nature. Before we all get totally desensitised to violence, Mr. Patterson's government must create the psychological atmosphere in which revulsion rather than acceptance is the order of the day, and action rather than talk is the highest political priority.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
