Enough of The Criminals and The Crime - Our Leaders Must Act Now Or.....

Once again, the criminals continue to murder us one by one - over one thousand persons per year since 2003, and our political leaders continue to fight over whether to have a state of emergency or not. In 1962, the year we became independent, we had sixty-three murders. For 2022 we seem to be on the trajectory to hit the one thousand four hundred mark.

Let me make this clear, there are many citizens who have suggested ideas over the years as to how to deal with this crime problem, but many of these ideas and suggestions have been ignored. Now our political parties are into an argument over paternity of these so-called new ideas rather than who will unite to deal with crime decisively. I remember quite well when possible, over twenty years ago, when I headed the first national citizens lobby group called Citizens' Initiative Organization, we presented ideas to the government to deal with crime. These ideas came from citizens associations from across the island. Most ideas were ignored. The only ones I recall being implemented is the night sitting of courts and the victim support scheme.

One of those ideas was to have a National Identification System (NIDS) which I discussed with Mr. Noel Lee who was then the head of the Electoral Commission. Government, is about to implement the National Identification System, but it will not be compulsory, and persons can withdraw from the system at any time. If it will not be compulsory then why have it? Many of you who follow me on radio should be aware that I have been promoting this National Identification System for a very very long time.

In recent times, I have concluded that it is a few persons who are contributing to the general mayhem in the society, especially as it relates to murder. I have suggested on air more than once that we need to take steps to eliminate these persons from the system who are creating the problems. I have called these persons local terrorists and we are at war with them. We should treat them as enemies of the state.

My basic suggestions to deal with the challenge are as follows:

• Have a National Identification System (NIDS) which means that every Jamaican citizen would be uniquely identified and registered in a secure computerized system. 
• Based on this NIDS, we would be able to track charges against the criminals in the computerized system. The system should be based on the philosophy that for each subsequent offence committed, the punishment and/or the fine will be increased. 
• For the first offence one could get a non-custodial sentence, but for the second time you are convicted of an offence, then incarceration could be increased to 5 years. A third time you would end up getting a life sentence. This would be one way to remove problem persons from the society.
• If one is caught with an illegal gun or any such weapon of that nature which can harm or kill someone, then on the first conviction, the convicted person should get 15 years. For a second offence the convicted person would get a life sentence. I should point out that if you have two cases and you are convicted for both, then you would get a life sentence.
• Anyone convicted for trading illegal weapons and drugs should get life sentence.
• Persons who the security forces have intelligence for, and the intelligence tells them that these persons pose a serious threat to the society; it can be confirmed that they are a part of a criminal network, they should be treated as local terrorists. Based on intelligence and by an order of the court these persons should be put on a watch list for a period of at least one year. These persons would be required to report to a station periodically and their activities closely monitored by the security forces. If they fail to report to the police, then the court would determine that these persons are fugitives and an order would be given for them to be carried in dead or alive by members of the security forces or by citizens. This law would only last for five years in which time all gangs should have been obliterated from the country.
• If the proper running of the state is threatened by any person or group of persons in the country, then with a two thirds majority support of parliament, emergency measures should be put in place to suspend the rights of these persons for at least one year until their organization has been totally obliterated. Application would first have to be made to the courts for these persons rights to be suspended based on intelligence that their operations have jeopardized the rights of other citizens. 
• Any person or persons who abuses this law in pursuant of any political agenda, or to maliciously destroy the reputation of any person, or for any corrupt means, then on conviction they should serve a life sentence.
• The government needs to remove minor offences from the judicial system and deal with these offences with a Ticketable Offense System (TOS), Under this system, if one commits a traffic offence or litter the streets, then that person could be issued with a ticket, and they would have to pay for that ticket. If one obtains tickets above a certain quantity this should result in serious penalties. The responsible officers should be able to issue warning tickets and for each subsequent ticket received, the cost should increase significantly. The idea of this system is not to make money for the state, but to dissuade persons from breaking the law. One would only go to court to dispute a ticket. 

For a ticketing system to work, we must have a national ID for all persons. For non-Jamaicans we would use their passport number for identification purposes. The emphasis would be on non-custodial sentencing. We should only put those persons in custody who are a danger to the state and to themselves. Emphasis would be placed also on rehabilitating those who show remorse and who we are able to rehabilitate.

Crime is not bigger than us, the criminals are not bigger than us, and it is time we show criminals that either they conform or confront the law. Confronting the law would surely be a suicidal strategy for the criminals.

More Readings

• Kevin O'brien Chang on the CIO
• Corruption and crime
• JCF Crime Statistics over the years 
• International homicides by country.
• Corruption is crippling the country.
• Corruption and accountability.
• Wilburn Pottinger gives his view on crime and the solutions.
• Crime - Call for action.
• 2022 Year Against Crime.