THE EDITOR, Sir:

I wish to convey the following to Dr Orville Taylor regarding his criticism of Assistant Commissioner Les Green's own criticism of Jamaica's police force.

Dr Taylor:

You are a good example - a good example of why Jamaica cannot advance and will always be a Third World nation. Whenever we get well-meaning, constructive criticism, instead of looking at the message, we get ourselves into a tizzy at the messenger delivering it. According to the words from your own keyboard:

"Very disturbing, and for all that it is worth, Les Green's comments are at best offensive, whether they are true or not."

So, basically, you don't really care if what he says is true or not. You just don't want the truth to come from somebody who is not of your race. Les Green spent a number of years working inside the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). You, on the other hand, did NOT.

Les Green is telling us what goes on in there from his vantage point of having been where you yourself have not gone. True, I'll agree, he could have been a little gentler with his words, but hey, the man is a cop. Cops, regardless of their race and nationality, are not used to sugar-coating anything.

So, instead of getting our knickers into a knot over this cold, hard truth, we've been told we should be learning from it to see what we can do to make the JCF a more modern and professional organisation.

The late Wilmot Perkins was right, after all: The University of the West Indies really is an "intellectual ghetto".

PETER HOPKINS

yamdigger@hotmail.com

Toronto, Ontario