Dear Editor,

I have to conclude that successive governments and their consultants have arrived at a point where they don’t know what to do to stem the degradation of our society as far as values, attitudes, crime and violence are concerned.

When the People’s National Party (PNP) forms the Government they berate the competence of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to tackle crime and the ills of our society. When the JLP forms the Government, the inability is equally glaring.

When one side harangues the other, it is as hypocritical as it is hilarious, because clearly neither administration is able or willing to do what it takes.

The task is a mammoth one, and perhaps there is too much at stake politically for our successive governments to be bold enough to commit to cleaning up Jamaica.

We have a clear choice. Do we, the majority of decent Jamaicans, continue to be at the mercy of murderers, molesters and rapists? Do we surrender to the smaller amount of lawless thugs that prey on citizens who go about their daily lives? Do we just let it ride as we sink in our apathetic juices or do we rise up, stand and take our places like the brave?

The long-term solution approach has been proffered by many sociologists and bleeding hearts who are unrelenting in ideas and investments to change the conditions that nurture thugs and criminals in the first place.

Let me take a solutions-oriented approach.

Since we have many qualified Jamaicans who have done much to focus and analyse our downward spiral into lawlessness and cruelty, it’s time to prioritise our solutions and make some decisions on how to proceed. Developing and evolving a solutions-orientation takes time, discipline and practice. We don’t have too much time, but there are a few well-trained professionals who are disciplined and have a track record of successful practice.

The task to clean house is overwhelming; successive commissioners of police have failed to put a dent in our shameful statistics, so how about a bottoms-up approach? Even with its fallacies, the Broken Windows Theory is applicable. Kelling and Wilson suggested that a broken window or other visible signs of disorder or decay — think loitering, graffiti, prostitution or drug use — can send the signal that a neighbourhood is uncared for. I suggest that we tackle the smaller evils like garbage pile-up, rusty, rotting zinc fences, vending in no-vending areas, unsightly and unsanitary sidewalk shacks, and harassment by windscreen wipers who use their tongues to lick the windscreens of female drivers travelling with children in their cars. Please! No more false announcements of their removal!

When we have dealt with those ‘tiny’ infractions, we could move up to tackling racketeers who block parking and won’t release spaces to law-abiding drivers who pay taxes. With those out of the way and with a collective sigh of relief and success, maybe we could move up to gunmen, rapists and murderers and start getting Jamaica on the ‘List of Great Places To Live in The World’.

Captain Sandi M Taylor Wiggan

sandra_wiggan@yahoo.co.uk