WE couldn’t agree more with the police commissioner, Mr Owen Ellington. A 15 per cent decline in murders so far this year is hardly worth celebrating.

For too many Jamaicans are still being killed, leaving too many families to suffer, and too many youngsters affected by those murders are growing up with either vengeance in their hearts or the belief that we are a cold and cruel society.

Up to December 19, police data show, there were 1,380 reported cases of murder compared with 1,625 for the similar period last year. As it now stands, our hope is that we will end this year without any further bloodshed, thereby not surpassing last year’s 1,680 murders, making it the bloodiest year in the country’s history.

That the number of reported murders has dipped so far this year suggests that we can make a significant dent in the crime challenge facing this nation. But that, as we have so often argued in this space, will require political will; a strong drive by the Government to create the environment that will encourage investment and, in turn, result in the availability of more jobs; and, just as important, a greater display of professionalism from the forces of law and order that will engender public trust and co-operation.

We would be remiss if we were to exclude from that our sincere belief that responsible parenting has a vital role to play in dealing with the problem of crime. We all know that children’s thoughts and actions are largely shaped by their parents.

And, of course, any serious effort to reduce crime cannot be truly successful without a continuous, more forceful and non-partisan assault on corruption, which has stained this country for too long.

On that score, the current Government, despite its many protestations while in Opposition, has not distinguished itself from its predecessor.

We, however, take some comfort in the passage of legislation and the approval by Cabinet of institutions such as the promised prosecutor general to deal with corruption in the public sector, even though the snail’s pace of the process suggests that there exists some amount of discomfort with the policy among legislators.

Our hope, though, is that these institutions will be provided with the necessary resources and authority to make them effective. Failing that, we could not be faulted by believing that all this was a grand facade.

Expected attack from Chavez’s supporters

So, our trenchant criticism on Tuesday of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has infuriated the lunatic left. Tough.

We are actually not surprised by their anger, though we must admit that we found humour in the hysterical instruction of one of the dictator’s supporters that instead of criticising him we should pray for him.

But maybe we shouldn’t take that advice so lightly, for probably prayer may help President Chavez to acknowledge the folly of his most recent assault on democracy and reverse himself.

However, given his thirst for power we don’t expect any surprises. In fact, Mr Chavez holds firmly to the view that he’s doing nothing wrong. That much was evident in his critical farewell to former Venezuelan president Carlos Andres Perez who passed away last week.

“May he rest in peace, but with him may the form of politics that he personified rest in peace and leave here forever,” Mr Chavez was quoted as saying.

The cold, hard fact, however, is that Mr Chavez has more in common with Mr Perez than either he or his lunatic left supporters would like to admit.