Peter Espeut
IN HIS column in The Sunday Gleaner three days ago, my colleague Ian Boyne called for a truce between us.
"For too long the criminals and terrorists have had us in civil society warring with one another, with human rights activists versus hard policing advocates like me and Garnet Roper; and PNP and JLP supporters and leaders trading accusations. Let's stop it now. We must unite against the dons and warlords and give them no succour. We must support the security forces and say so openly and loudly like the PSOJ, so that the terrorists won't be emboldened. Speak out against genuine, proven abuses, yes. But support them in the war against terrorism."
There is a lot to support here. Boyne is calling for the PNP and JLP to unite against the 'dons and warlords' and to give them "no succour".
This is a welcome departure from his earlier columns, and is equivalent to calling for an end to the link between crime and politics in Jamaica. I certainly believe that politics is closer to the true source of our problems than those he previously implicated. At least we now seem to agree on that!
WITHHOLDING CONTRIBUTIONS
And I see that support for this position is growing, and that my call for the private sector to bring pressure on the PNP and the JLP by withholding political contributions is being repeated elsewhere.
This is probably the most powerful weapon the private sector has, but so far they have held it in reserve. Not to use it in this present demonstration against the present unprecedented level of crime and violence in Jamaica is to demonstrate that the private sector is less a part of the solution and more a part of the problem.
How more loudly can human rights advocates like myself shout our support for the police in their fight against crime?
Boyne and others need to realise that criticising bad policemen for abuses is not the same thing as showing lack of support for good policemen.
I have written this often, and I hope my regular readers will forgive me for repeating it in this context: throughout my life I have always felt close to the police; my uncle my mother's brother was Commissioner of Police at Independence, and I grew up close to the force.
Today I am station pastor at the Lionel Town Police Station in Clarendon. It is because I care for the Jamaica Constabulary Force that I write so often about alleged and proven abuses by its members. I have heard good policemen do the same.
Those like Boyne who really want to openly and loudly support the security forces can't 'kibbah dem mout' about corruption in the force; by doing so they really support the activities of the bad policemen.
It is ridiculous for Boyne to ask us only to speak against "genuine, proven abuses"; real proof can only come from a judgement in a court of law, and if Boyne seriously wants us to wait for our flawed justice system to pronounce before we speak, then this is just another attempt to silence us.
"... human rights activists versus hard policing advocates like me and Garnet Roper". A false dichotomy! I am very much in favour of hard policing, Boyne!
For me, hard policing is serious and thorough investigation of crimes, the cordoning off of crime scenes to support the collection of forensic evidence, the collection of intelligence from a supportive community, taking suspects alive to obtain valuable information after close interrogation, the use of induction and deduction to 'solve' crime, not just to 'clear up' crime.
DEFINE 'HARD POLICING'
I do not know any human rights advocate who is against this type of hard policing. And we need more of this hard policing! There is no greater supporter of the police in doing this hard policing than I!
But I have the feeling that this is not what Boyne means by 'hard policing' and I want him to carefully define what he means.
He cannot mean the sort of cowboy tactics we have heard about and have actually seen: trigger-happy police invading private dwellings usually of poor black people kicking down doors and manhandling the residents; or policemen with armour-piercing weapons firing without aiming into populated areas.
What do you mean by 'hard policing' Boyne? And Garnet: is Boyne taking your name in vain?
Peter Espeut is a sociologist and is executive director of an environment and development NGO.
