Observer online readers largely agree with the newspaper’s April 14, 2011 editorial that Jamaica is reaping the benefits of smashing the Tivoli crime conglomerate, as evidenced by the 44 per cent drop in murders over the first three months of this year. Here are their comments:

Esteban Agosto Reid: Mr Editor, I have read your commentary in earnest and I categorically concur that the radical decrease in murders is inextricably linked to the evisceration and disembowelment of the Tivoli crime conglomeration. Hopefully,at some point in the near future, the crime syndicates, specifically in Spanish Town and St James will also be dismantled and the entire island will be able to realise the benefits in terms of a further radical decrease in the number of murders committed each year.

Tony Morgan: Politicians created this mess, so how come they want credit for it, the security forces are the one that should be credited along with the United States because if US didn’t put pressure on these politicians it would be just business as usual in Jamaica and crime would be high as usual. The Army and police force needs to break away from these corrupted people that are preventing them from doing their lawful duties. Jamaica won’t be better until politicians start to go to prison for their acts.

Stephen Fox: I am left wondering when the crime syndicates in Trench Town, Rema, Spanish Town, and other places will be addressed. The PM was forced to call a state of emergency because the security of the country was threatened. Editor, not enough has been done and not enough will be done because the parliamentarians owe their offices to the narco underground. You only have to witness the cloudiness of political fund-raising.

John Smith: I’ve posted elsewhere that it’s most suspicious that the crime rate dropped so drastically after 73 ‘civilians’ died in Tivoli. Let’s keep in mind, however, that appearances can be deceiving. What’s needed is an in-depth look at what caused the decrease in crime. We can’t just live with statistics ‘just so’, we have to know the cause/effect relationship so that we can actively continue the trend. If $40+M can be found to ‘not recall’ then money for such an important pursuit can be found as well… Politicians should not be dictating to the police where they can enforce the law and where they cannot…The Editor is growing a pair! Don’t reach puberty yet but continue like this and you’ll be mature in no time, Observer! Deeper analysis is needed into WHY the crime rate has dropped. We cannot settle for conjecture. We need hard facts. Social scientists need to look into this.

Clifton Johnson: Am I reading the Observer? I didn’t think so untill the editor tried to, in some way, give credit to the PM and I came back to reality. Tivoli has always been the safe haven for the criminal underworld. For the JLP to take any credit for the reduction in murders would be a slap in the face of the police force and civil society who begged them to extradite Coke. POWER TO THE PEOPLE!! Klansman and One Order are next.

Brad Kerr: I see the Observer has finally taken off its green goggles. This article is on point and I find myself agreeing with it. All we can do is hope that we do not regress to the point of 1,000 murders and deep divisions based on one’s politics. Hindsight is 20/20 and the PM may have unintentionally broken the back of crime. Kudos to him. The saying is if Bruce can assault Tivoli, the criminals are not safe anywhere. And so it should be! Keep it up PM.

Carlos King: Dear Mr Editor, I am sure the PM deserves credit for many things that happen in Jamaica, some good things and some bad things, but the reduction of murder and crime and violence – lawlessness in general is not one of them. The PM has no authority to order the police. Ordering the security forces to enter an area falls under OPERATIONS and that is the prerogative of the Commissioner of Police. It is civil society — the Jamaican people — that deserve the credit, not politicians or police officers.

Noel Richards: Much of what is stated here is accurate, but you must dig deeper. While the decline in citizen-on-citizen crime is welcome, it is not the result of a solution to the cause, it is a patch of one symptom. Note that the US is more concerned with drug running and will not strongly criticise the GOJ for human rights violations due to expediency. Jamaicans will not thrive within an oppressive police state and should make themselves aware of the experiences of El Salvador and others.

mala prop: I hope SSP Reneto Adams does not believe he has psychic abilities after reading this editorial. We all (media, civil society, PSOJ, JLP, PNP) knew that when he said Jamaica would live to regret what happened in TG that it was true, but we were so anxious to get the PNP out of office that we could care less. I wouldn’t be surprised though if Mr Adams and to a lesser extent, Mr Lewin bought many copies of the Observer today, both as a collector’s item and to send to their friends,

Pierre Buckley: I really enjoyed this article. Now this is real journalism. An analysis and report on the facts without biased opinion.

Obi Wan: The depressive effects of crime on the economy puts Jamaica into a death spiral where the likely end state is Somalia, a failed state, with warlords controlling important sectors of the country, leaving the government weak and ineffectual. Tivoli was a great first step to break this spiral. But what about the others? The job will not be done until crime rates are more like Costa Rica.

Kweli Simba: The suggestion is that Tivoli was the gates of the criminal empire in Jamaica. I, however, will suggest that the drop in crime is a result of the diligence of the gov’t and the security forces in stepping up the pace of crime fighting. The incursion into Tivoli and the subsequent capture of Coke might have caused other criminals to take a lower profile fearing the wrath that the Tivoli-ites had to endure. But to even imply that Dudus had mastery over the Island’s criminal machinery is unfounded.

St. Ann: Very bold and surprising editorial, but I agree.

Ghengis Khan: I agree with many of the points outlined in this editorial…However, I am wondering how “deeper analysis” could determine how much credit goes to the PM for this year’s drop in murders. The question that should be asked is who gets credit for the slaughter of thousands of innocents by condoning the state of affairs in the “Mother of all Garrisons”.

Trevor Harris: I must applaud the Observer,a known JLP apologist, for coming to its senses and admitting what is abundantly clear; and that is that the events of last May have been a major factor in the reduction of crime.When taken to its logical conclusion, it can be assumed that Dudus had a major role to play in the criminal activities across the island. I was told, that this man had a wide network in every crevice and corner; he supplied everything from guns to cars to his cronies. Thank God for the US.

George Watson: I never knew in a hundred years that an Observer editorial would acknowledge that the drop in the murder rate was due to the dismantling of a criminal empire. Although to be fair, this newspaper was in the forefront of those demanding Mr Coke’s extradition. Despite this obvious evidence apologists for the JLP have been saying that the drop is because of government initiative. No way could the police have made these gains competing against the power of Mr Coke and his cronies. And the government fought tooth and nail against this extradition. All is left now is for the wipe out of the Klansman and One Order gangs one way or the other. What is happening here? The Observer goes further. “In hindsight, therefore, it would seem that previous attempts by the police at flushing out the criminals from Tivoli Gardens were justified, even if they were vilified as being politically motivated.

“We can also conclude that were those efforts successful, the estimated 73 fatalities suffered in 2010, might have been far less than say the 27 deaths when Mr Reneto Adams made his ill-fated attempt a decade ago.” I might soon start buying the Observer again. This newspaper is showing some fairness at last.