Police officers in a guard of honour salute as pallbearers take the casket with the body of former Assistant Commissioner of Police Gilbert Kameka from the Montego Bay Seventh-day Adventist centre yesterday after a funeral service. Kameka was shot dead by gunmen in Irish Town last month. (Photo: Mark Cummings)

MONTEGO BAY, St James - Arguing that the gun is Jamaica's number one problem, the Police Officers' Association yesterday called on the Government to urgently introduce stiffer penalties and to provide more resources to stamp out illegal trading in firearms and ammunition.

"We are calling on the Government to act now to enact tough legislation aimed at deterring trafficking, possession and use of illegal firearms," POA chairman Norman Heywood said during his tribute at the funeral service for former Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Gilbert Kameka, who was shot dead in Irish Town last month by gunmen.

"If we want to make this country a safe place for our children and us, we must effectively reduce small arms and ammunition trafficking and make laws so tough that potential 'shottas' won't even think of taking up a gun," Heywood told mourners inside the Montego Bay Seventh-day Adventist centre.

He stressed that more resources must be made available to the police in a bid to improve their ability to detect and confiscate small arms and ammunition.

He also urged the Government to seize the opportunity presented by a Caricom/United States initiative to combat trafficking in small arms and light weapons.
The gun has figured prominently in thousands of criminal activities, including murders, over the last 15 years.

According to figures supplied by Heywood, the weapon has been used to murder 10,100 of the 15,000 persons killed in the country between 1992 and 2006.

Eighty per cent of the more than 1,460 persons murdered since this year, he said, were killed by the gun.
"The gun has caused decent, law-abiding citizens to become prisoners in their homes, and like it or not, we have begun to issue our own travel advisory," the POA chairman said.

But minister of national security Derrick Smith, who was among a number of government officials at the service, sought to assure the police that more resources will be made available to them.

"I want to assure you the members of the security forces that this Government will stand toe-to-toe with you and to provide you with the necessary resources, to ensure that the perpetrators of the savage attacks (against the police) are brought to justice," Smith said.

Nineteen policemen have been murdered since the start of the year.

The security minister argued that the attacks on the police represent a "blow to the very foundation of the law enforcement system", and warned that persons who snuff out the lives of cops will not go unpunished.
ACP Kameka, who was in charge of the Police Area 4, is the highest ranked officer to be murdered in the Jamaica Constabulary Force's (JCF's) recent history. His murder shocked the police force, and yesterday Acting Commissioner of Police Jeneve Bent said that two men have so far been arrested in connection with the killing, and the cops were searching for a third suspect.
Several glowing tributes were yesterday paid to the former ACP, who served the JCF for 28 years.

Heywood described Kameka as "a man who was unselfish, who had not insulated himself and used his rank to prevent personal contact".

"He was approachable and accommodating. He would never fail to offer sound advice, which was often accurate and concise," Heywood said, adding that the ACP was "one of the finest critical and strategic thinkers the JCF had ever seen in modern times".

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ray Palmer said Kameka possessed strong leadership and management skills.

"To say that he is sadly missed is an understatement," SSP Palmer said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Linval Bailey said Kameka had a passion for law and order.

Tributes were also paid by retired ACP Linton Latty, attorney Don Foote and a host of ACP Kameka's relatives and friends.
During his almost three decades in the JCF, Kameka also served at the administration branch of the police staff college at Twickenham Park, Spanish Town; in St James; St Andrew Central; Mobile Reserve and areas Two and Four.

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