There are two ways to look at what, based on two accounts in yesterday's publication, seems like an inability of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to respond swiftly to calls for help.

It is, however, two kinds of movement required of those who are designated to serve and protect. Dr Lee Bailey and his wife, Judith, would have wished for speedy physical movement by front-line police personnel in Montego Bay on Wednesday when she was being attacked by gunmen who invaded their home. She is now in intensive care, with a broken collar and facial bones.

Dangerous precedent

As Bailey told The Gleaner when the police were called during the emergency, they claimed that they could not respond, although they did turn up sometime later. His comparison with the highly visible response units of the various security firms is cutting. He said: "It should never be that a country's private security firms should have more sophisticated equipment than the national security forces. That is a dangerous precedent."

That level of immobility is dangerous enough on the ground, but columnist Dennie Quill reminds us, also in yesterday's Gleaner, about the immobility of the JCF on a much broader level. In 'Awful truth about the police', the columnist reminds us that Police Commissioner Hardley Lewin has publicly called the organisation he leads a "cesspool".

Strong language indeed, but certain scents do tend to rise. And if the man at the top smelt what is below him and identified the origins, those on the periphery would be well advised to accept his judgement.

So as it is, then, the JCF is stuck in a position of inefficiency and public mistrust in its abilities to serve and protect, hampered not only by the lack of a unit when an emergency call is received, but corruption within its ranks.

Of course, the two kinds of immobility are related. We will not speculate about the specific reasons for the police being tardy when Judith Bailey was being assaulted, but a general corruption does lead to a certain lethargy in the execution of official duties by even those who are not personally involved in corrupt practices, as disillusionment is bound to set in.

As a nation, we cannot accept the inability of the police force to move effectively in the execution of its duties. It is impractical for us to presume that we can influence the 'cesspool' that Lewin has described from the policy level; however, we can insist that the police explain why they have not responded quickly in the cases when they are tardy.

Getting the force moving

Getting the police force moving at the policy level will come only by incremental steps on the ground. We literally cannot afford to give up on the police force. The efficiency and cost of private security, which is beyond the reach of most Jamaicans, is not an option available to the public at large.

We must entrust the security of the citizens to a fixed institution, one that is immobile in the sense that it will not cease to exist. Private security companies may be mobile on the streets, but they will also come and go.

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