Letters

The Editor, Sir:

Sgt Raymond Wilson is out of order and should be fired. There is no other way to express my outrage at a member of the police force who accuse the Government and the prime minister of being responsible for the number of murders per year in Jamaica. Clearly, Mr Wilson is unaware of his role and must be disciplined forthwith.

In Jamaica, there has been a breakdown of law and order and Mr Wilson doesn't seem to understand that there are some matters that are not within the remit of the police to comment on in the fashion he did. There are expected protocols and ways of conducting yourself, especially when you occupy certain positions of leadership.

Mr Wilson failed to address the relationship between the police and criminals. He needed to have spent his time dealing with the high levels of corruption in the police force, the extrajudicial killings in the force and the numerous instances of policemen being involved in criminal activities of various kinds, such as robberies and murders, which remain as perennial areas of concern.

Mr Wilson seems quite willing to blame a three-year-old government but fails to deal with the fact that the People's National Party had been in power for almost two decades. Mr Wilson was willing to blame the Government but fails to acknowledge that the high crime rate is also linked to the inefficient and ineffective policing to which the country has been subjected over the years.

What amounts to a crime being 'cleared up' is when a citizen is killed by the police without any clear evidence to the public that he was, in fact, responsible for previous crimes. The level of policing of which this country has been the recipient has been very poor for many years. Mr Wilson needs to call for greater forensic support and increased training for police personnel.

Possible libel

If the police knows of linkages and criminal actions with politicians, the function of Mr Wilson and his team is not to make grand pronouncements on the platform but to arrest those responsible. His innuendoes could amount to libel and lawyers within the Government should actively pursue civil action against him.

I do not begrudge an ordinary citizen his right to comment and there are numerous forums in which this can be done. Unfortunately, the conference of the Police Federation is not one of them and the chairman of the federation does not have the liberty to so comment. His comments were inappropriate and he ought to be disciplined.

I am, etc.,

HAROLD MALCOLM

bruce_26@hotmail.com