Glenn Tucker | Frustration and fear

This Wednesday’s Gleaner carried depressing news. Nineteen alleged members of the Westmoreland-based Dexter Street Gang were freed after a murder case against them collapsed. The witness, they say, is missing.

It is alleged that this gang is linked to 40 murders in western Jamaica over the past three years, and a large gun and ammo find at the port was theirs.

The article is punctuated with a number of ‘duppy’ stories – excuses, really – which add to one’s annoyance.

The first of these is the claim that, despite several requests, the witness would not join the Witness Protection Programme. And why should he? It could not be lost on him that, in another ‘gang’ trial, one of the accused was a policeman. But we all know the impossible conditions associated with this Witness Protection Programme.

Is it too much to suggest that provisions have to be made for dependents? And that it cannot be just for the first three months? Quite frankly, to potential witnesses, this programme is like Colonel Sanders offering free accommodation to chickens at the back of one of his KFC restaurants – near the kitchen.

SAD JOKE

The problem with witnesses is recognised in every other jurisdiction that takes these matters seriously. It is technology that they depend on. But if we insist on depending on witnesses, it has to be a swift trial – when memories are fresh and witnesses are still alive.

One person I know who rejected the programme did so because there was no credible plan as to how her three children would be cared for. It is now two years and the trial has not started. She can’t work. Today, she is disguised as a homeless man. Tomorrow, an old mentally ill woman. Because the murderers that were not held are walking about merrily. Why can’t anyone see the sad joke in all of this?

BUILDING CASES

Some years ago, the Feds targeted a man at the wharf in Miami. Their undercover man was sent to work there. He befriended the target, became the godfather for his first child, and attended all family functions. Years later, when the Feds moved in, there were more than 200 arrests throughout the United States. The targeted system was broken – permanently.

Why is it that when contraband is found at the wharf, our people dash for the media and TV cameras? Again, is it too much to expect them to follow the trail and slowly build a case that will stand up in court and dismantle a gang in the process?

Another excuse we get is that persons who send videos of crimes ‘will not come forward’ to confirm the authenticity of the video, so the authorities ‘can’t go forward’. The technology has been in existence, for years, that can determine if a video has been altered in any way. Where no tampering exists, and the parties in the matter can be clearly identified, why can’t the matter proceed?

So the alleged murderers of 40 people are drinking champagne today. Who is going to protect us?

Well I am just damn, blasted frustrated. And scared.

Glenn Tucker is an educator and sociologist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and glenntucker2011@gmail.com.