Finally, Prime Minister Bruce Golding is stirring. He appears to be getting around to the realisation that crime is Jamaica's number one problem and the solution to which ought to be his government's priority.

But, as we pointed out in The Sunday Gleaner, what is now critical is how Mr Golding gives expression to his new realisation. What, concretely, is he going to do?

Responsibility of leadership

It can't be that the prime minister engages in a meandering, raindrop-dodging sophistry on the difference between operational responsibility and policy direction and suggest, as he appeared to do last week, that the primary call to action is with the police. Nor can Mr Golding exculpate himself from the responsibility of leadership and defer serious and effective action until he receives the imprimatur of the Opposition.

That is not the way it works. This, of course, is not to say that there are not questions of crime-fighting strategies and tactics for which the police ought to be held accountable; or that the PM ought not to seek accommodation and consensus with the Opposition. But the primary responsibility for effective action against crime rests with the Government, and more critically, with the prime minister.

Country in crisis

As we argued on Sunday, whatever the causes of crime in Jamaica - the anatomy of which is well known and understood - the country now faces a crisis. Nearly 700 homicides have been committed in Jamaica already this year, with a randomness that is terroristic. There is deep and debilitating fear in the society.

The solution to the crime problem faced in Jamaica is only secondarily a policing issue. More fundamentally, it is a matter of policy, responsibility for which no one, if tolerably thoughtful, could ascribe to the police chief, Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin.

Worse before better

Admiral Lewin understands well that with normal policing tactics, in the context of the current policy environment, crime will probably get far worse before it gets better. The reversal will be slow and incremental.

We argue, which we suspect the police chief appreciates, that 'normal' policing will hardly work with efficacy in an abnormal, dysfunctional environment. People in a society have to agree to be policed. It, therefore, demands a degree of normalisation, a dramatic stanching of the mayhem, for the initiatives and tactics to be pursued by Admiral Lewin to have significant effect.

Unconventional initiatives

The short term insists upon unconventional initiatives, which must be the result of bold, uncompromising policy that carries the full weight and prestige of the office of prime minister. People may disagree with the policy, and resulting tactics and strategies, but they must be confident in the PM's commitment, and that it will be implemented without fear, favour or partisan consideration.

A commitment to this kind of ethical standard - assuming they agree that Jamaica faces a crisis that requires addressing in new and even unconventional ways - is necessary to engender public support and to persuade the Opposition that it should come aboard.

However, embarking on this approach ought not to be dependent on the outcome of a Vale Royal summit. The crisis is now. It demands action now.

The PM must buttonhole his Opposition counterpart. If she proves to be a laggard, so be it. Tell the people. But Mr Golding can't afford to shilly-shally and hand-wring on this one.