Like most Jamaicans, Mr Robert Montague obviously has a belief system firmly grounded in religious faith.

He tells us he was chosen by God to lead Jamaica’s fight against crime.

However, it’s also obvious, that, while the national security minister believes in divine intervention and the power of prayer, he also knows that God helps those who help themselves.

Hence his assertion that resolving Jamaica’s crime problems will require “unity, hard work, a political will, and a belief in what is good about Jamaica”.

In other words, Jamaicans must deal with their crime problem themselves.

Furthermore, Mr Montague knows conquering criminals won’t be sudden or miraculous.

“We are here, where we are, and it took a long time to get here, and it is not going to be easy to leave here. But we will leave here. It is not going to be overnight, it is not going to be instant…” says Mr Montague.

So how do we leave here? A multifaceted approach to resolving crime has been discussed in this country for a very long time.

There is consensus that there has to be significant social and economic intervention to address the consequences of extreme impoverishment. Jamaicans can’t expect to exist in peace and harmony when there is such a huge gap between ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’: Some living in barely believable wealth and comfort, many only just getting by, and many others existing in hopeless squalor on gully banks and in zinc-fenced houses.

Some argue that economic growth will eventually reduce such terrible economic disparities through employment. High employment will be a motive force for education and training, further reducing idle hands, they argue. The trouble is that the sustained, far-reaching economic growth required to have such wide-scale societal impact won’t happen in the current crime-infested environment.

Similarly, social programmes in the slums and shanty towns aimed at improving health, education, housing, etc, don’t get far in the face of criminals.

Those criminals must be confronted, first and foremost, and rooted out for the much-desired social and economic boost to take hold. That’s why adequate resources are urgently needed to, among other things, properly equip the constabulary to catch and counter criminals; upgrade the justice system, including the modernisation of prisons, so that inmates are actually rehabilitated and trained for legitimate work rather than becoming more hardened criminals.

As we have said previously in this space, there has to be a collective political will to effectively and sustainably fight crime on all fronts.

On the political front, Mr Montague can’t lead the fight alone. There has to be concerted action by the Government of Mr Andrew Holness, and by the parliamentary Opposition, to mobilise communities and the society at large to help the police.

Nor can the politicians stand alone. Business leaders, church leaders, so-called civil society, social activists, and the ordinary man and woman must come together in an unrelenting war on criminals. If Jamaicans accept that crime is their biggest problem, then they must treat it as such.