THE POLICE commissioner is clearly acting responsibly when he speaks publicly about the lack of resources which hamper the performance of the Jamaican Constabulary Force (JCF), and thereby, lobbies for what he needs.

This is what we understand Mr. Lucius Thomas to have been doing in his speech on Friday, at the conference of the Police Federation, the union of rank-and-file police officers. According to Mr. Thomas, despite some of the technological inputs that the JCF has received in the recent past, such as a new ballistic machine and a digital fingerprinting system, it needs more. More of the every-day, nitty-gritty stuff like vehicles, ballistic helmets "and yes, more guns."

Obviously, Mr. Thomas was aware that his demand for more guns, especially of the type he implies he needs, would raise more than eyebrows. For the police chief clearly wants the big things, the high-powered rifles that are common extensions of cops who patrol the streets of Kingston and other Jamaican cities and towns.

"We should not be lagging behind the sophistication and firepower (of criminals)," said Mr. Thomas. With that we agree.

The question is whether the police force needs to invest in more big guns and in what quantities. Indeed, there are many who will argue that the police already do a 'good job' at homicides - 168 last year - among the highest per capita in the world for a constabulary force. Mr. Thomas will, of course, argue that few countries are as difficult to police as Jamaica and that few constabularies face criminal gunmen as brazen as those that his officers have to confront. He can parade a powerful statistic: over 1,600 murders last year, the vast majority of them by the gun.

The issue though, is whether the problem is to be confronted with more and better fire rather than brain power. We like to hear Mr. Thomas' request for the public's help in putting pressure on Parliament to pass a good Proceeds of Crime Act, which will allow the confiscation of the assets of criminal gain. We believe that he needs support when he calls for systems upgrades and vehicles, and helmets and bullet-proof vests.

And we would have been heartened had he spoken, or had done so more forcibly, about the need for more training and the processes of accountability. For in the long, or even the short run, criminals in Jamaica, even the more dangerous ones like Delano 'Bigga Prime' Williams, who was highlighted by Commissioner Thomas, will be defeated not by matching their firepower, but by sophisticated, intelligent policing - in other words, by brain power.

In any event, we do not believe that the police need more big guns. They probably have far more than enough than they need, if their distribution and use were rationalised. Why does a cop need an M16 at a street corner? Perhaps if the police chief made a case for handguns, if the police are short in this area, we, and others, would be more receptive.

We would say to Mr. Thomas, "Wheel and come again."