JFJ must defend its role
Published:Thursday | May 8, 2025 | 12:06 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
I am very disappointed with Michael Abrahams’ column on Tuesday concerning the public image of the Jamaicans for Justice lobby (JFJ).
Just as they did, and do with INDECOM, this government has been attacking JFJ viciously these past few months, and he has fallen for it.
The government doesn’t want to admit to our dysfunctional society in this election year. There is not a finite number of criminals out there, because there are, given the dysfunction, always more in the making, unless one can get a visa and leave, which is the most popular choice.
There is no real attempt at ZOSOs, just more SOEs and when the Opposition doesn’t go along with that, then we have judge/jury/executioner policing. Sure, people in the crime-ridden, gang-ridden communities would like to feel safe, and though they have no option, but to call on the police, they don’t trust them.
Holness is offering $2m for info towards solving the recent murder of the 14-year-old. Why the need for such an incentive? Because ‘informa fi dead’, sometimes through police leakages, is still very real. Related to this is an inefficient court system, such that successful prosecutions are quite rare. So, better to be that jury and executioner too.
The fifth paragraph of Abrahams’ article falls for all the inaccurate hype given to justify the increased police killings. Most murders are either still between gangs or are the result of domestic disputes, especially ‘dead lef’ land, which again is the result of inefficiency in our land titling arrangements.
LACK OF TRUST
Holness’ $2m reward proves the lack of trust that the heavy-handed policing creates so that information is hard to come by. It can easily become a downwards spiral with the disadvantaged youths ever more targeted, and resentful.
So what of the body cameras, if the police killings are really justified? And the use of tasers? Never much response to that. The sense of power given to police when they carry a gun is palpable, making them generally unfriendly, even arrogant.
Community policing has long been a dead letter here, except for the occasional mention in name only. I wonder if Abrahans supported the assault on Tivoli Gardens in 2010, with many stories of young men pulled from their homes and executed.
The murder rates dropped after that for some months. Justified? But why was Dudus so popular, or as Zekes, so much needed? Again our dysfunctional society, exactly what ZOZOs recognised. Yet, all we get is judge, jury and executioner.
Ibrahim Traore in Burkina Faso can conjure hope out of nowhere. The best we can do is dispense with the monarchy, yet hold on to the Privy Council – what a contradiction.
Give us vision less we perish. Don’t let the government bully either JFJ or INDECOM, the Integrity Commission, NEPA, JET ... the list goes on, and gets longer. And we thought Trump was leading the way in assailing the constitution. To hear Holness say that he will ‘win’ (whatever that means) rather than JFJ is astounding.’
PAUL WARD