Opposition to the push by the security forces against gangs and criminal enterprises has been coming fast and thick since the May 24 operation in Tivoli Gardens.

Among the concerns raised are alleged abuses of human rights said to have been committed by the security forces. Residents of Tivoli Gardens in particular have been very vocal, accusing police and soldiers of atrocities of the worst kind.

If those accusations are true, we expect that the authorities will investigate and punish the guilty. For, as we argued in this space previously, it will take only one senseless act of abuse to erode the public support that the security forces gained going into the operation.

We notice, however, that there are quite a few commentators who — though far removed from happenings on the ground in West Kingston — are among the more strident in their criticism of the police in particular. They, without checking what they are told or analysing the information to ensure its legitimacy, are quick to speech, thus making an already difficult situation all the more challenging.

The security forces, we suggest, should not listen to these people, neither should they lose focus of their mission to rid this country of the scourge of criminal gangsters who, in reality, are parasites living off the hard work of others and are wrecking the lives of Jamaicans.

It’s worth repeating that Jamaica is now at a juncture in relation to crime that demands that we grab this opportunity to deal decisively with the problem or suffer the consequences of inaction.

And suffer we will, if we fail in this effort. For the criminals who ambushed and killed those two policemen on Mountain View Avenue on the night of May 23, their equally vile cronies who started shooting up and burning police stations in West Kingston, and the other gunmen who spread terror in other sections of the capital for two days, were telling us in no uncertain terms that they had no regard for the law.

No self-respecting country could allow that kind of behaviour and thinking to flourish. For if that were to be done, it would not only shake the foundation of our democracy, but place it at great risk of collapse.

That is why we support the security forces’ drive to crush these gangs, as they threaten our existence and our ability to transform Jamaica into a country of which we would be even more proud.

But the security operation, we hold, cannot be the only measure, as there is great need in communities like West Kingston for the social intervention programmes about which successive governments have spoken for years, but have done precious little to implement.

Take for instance the Police Executive Research Forum programme that, with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development and the American Chamber of Commerce in Jamaica, was successfully implemented in the Grants Pen community.

We recall that by 2007 when the programme was at its height, the community recorded 11 murders that year, down from 97 in 1997. The trust level between residents and the police started to improve and people’s sense of safety began to grow.

Sadly, the programme has suffered a setback, mostly because of a lack of continuity of the original model.

That, we submit, must not be allowed to happen again. There must be a sustained effort backed by a fixity of purpose on the part of all stakeholders to achieve success.

It must be done… for Jamaica’s sake.