Dear Editor,

In a society such as ours where fighting crime and violence should be the main focus, especially for the Jamaica Constabulary Force, this focus has changed to one of dismissing members of the JCF and various cost-cutting exercises, rather than fighting crime.

We have seen recently the resignation of Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin as commissioner of police, and the argument posited then was that he was not having an impact on crime. We must, however, ask ourselves what has changed since his departure.

We have seen where the Acting Commissioner of Police and his team have continued where he left off. Therefore, it is safe to say that his departure has done nothing to curtail crime and the killings have continued. In an effort to mask what is happening, the focus of the media in the bloodiest week of the year was their quoting from the force orders of the JCF how many members were dismissed rather than how we have become one of the most barbaric societies. Some of the dismissals to date are still questionable as they breach policies and guidelines governing dismissal as well as the process of natural justice.

Let me hasten to say, however, that I cannot deny that there are corrupt members within all ranks of the JCF and we need to do all that is necessary to rid the force of corruption, but we must not use corrupt, unprofessional and unethical means to fight corruption. It would be like using dirt to sweep dirt. We must realise that 2010 has started just as 2009 ended – murder, murder and more murder. We need to unite as a people – the legislature, police and citizens – to curb this monster called crime. If we want to survive, our main focus must be the reduction of crime and therefore we must stop pussyfooting around the issue and deal with it head-on.

Purnell Haughton

purnellhaughton@yahoo.com