There's a tendency among some residents of this society to wrap themselves up in the illusion that crime is a monster that dare not tread upon their doorsteps.

So whenever it does, they tend to behave like the returning resident in yesterday's edition of our sister title, the Observer West did: they hide.

However, no amount of hiding will, in the long run, mask the fact that there are no sacred cows as far as criminals in Jamaica are concerned.

The fact is that they can and will break into the most seemingly secure, fabulous and exclusive of residences if they are so minded. When it comes to the matter of abductions, rape and murder, they have no regard for anyone. Everyone -- rich, poor, black, white -- is at risk, vulnerable.

If, as a nation, we can just understand this, we will be better able to resist the urge to take matters into our own hands -- go vigilante, as it were, through gestures which, if taken to their logical conclusions, undermine the State and its organs.

Our dialogue too, will become more honest, and we will be able to refer to our affected communities by name as opposed to proximity to other ostensibly less affluent communities.

It's not that we can't understand why the returning resident, who shared his story with us on condition that we come no closer than 'near Hopewell' in our description of his community, has taken his case to those who robbed his home last month.

After all, they've managed to elude the Sandy Bay police so far.

But as this space has often pointed out, we're all in this thing together and the police can't operate to the exclusion of the communities they purport to protect and serve.

If thieves break into an upscale residence 'near Hopewell' and make off with a truckload of household items, we would like to think that somebody, somewhere along the line, has some relevant information that could lead to their recovery.

It is to such person(s) that any reward should be offered. To expect the thieves, who are very likely experts in their field, to trade in $3-million worth of goods for $250,000 is rather cockeyed thinking.

Even if the thieves were to return the goods, what guarantee would the returning resident have that they wouldn't turn around and steal them again?

And if they did, would he offer another reward?

And another, if the thieves decided to go for a hat-trick?

The money that our returning resident is prepared to throw to a pack of thieves who would probably not hesitate to kill him would be better spent, we think, with State forces, no matter how seemingly inept, corrupt and inefficient.

For at the end of the day, whether we like it or not, we have to acknowledge them as our representatives.

It is they to whom we must ultimately turn when our private efforts fail, no matter how near or far removed we are from Hopewell.

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