MS Mabel Forbes, mother of trainee policeman Constable Duvaughn Brown who was shot dead recently in Westmoreland, unwittingly illustrated a far-reaching consequence of Jamaica’s horrendous crime rate.

She told our reporter how she fetched her machete when her pleas for one to be brought to her went unheeded. She was hell-bent on taking vengeance through jungle justice. The man accused of killing her son had been accosted and was being beaten. Her son’s lifeless body was lying on the road not far away.

Fortunately, from this newspaper’s perspective, by the time Ms Forbes returned to the scene with her weapon the police had arrived.

Sadly, many Jamaicans — frustrated by violent crime which has claimed close to 7,000 lives in the last five years and which has been at crisis proportion in excess of five decades — would have agreed with a grieving Ms Forbes had she carried out the terrible deed.

That’s even though it is well known that innocent people sometimes fall victim to jungle justice. Such as was the case last month when a man was killed by residents of St Thomas who apparently mistook him for a fugitive accused of abducting two young girls.

Among the many debilitating consequences of crime in Jamaica is that the under-resourced, overworked security forces and justice system struggle to cope. Even when the alleged perpetrator is captured and formally charged, it often takes years for a resolution. From the perspective of many citizens, all too often the man they presume to be guilty walks free. Hence the resort to jungle justice, which brings us right back to how to resolve crime beyond such short-term measures as current states of emergency in western Jamaica and sections of Kingston.

Statistics suggest that very young people — many embraced by criminal gangs — are often the perpetrators of violent crime. Who is to be blamed for that?

We are struck by a question rhetorically put to this newspaper by Ms Shannique Bowden, executive director of Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network (JYAN): Why, she reportedly asked, is it seemingly easier for a young person to get a gun than a well-paying job?

Says Ms Bowden, “What statistics won’t show you is that young people are a product of their environment. When you have young people growing up in inner-city communities and communities riddled with violence, the norm that they are accustomed to is violence. Some will make it out, some, unfortunately, won’t.”

In other words, there is a cycle that needs to be broken if Jamaica is to ever overcome its crime problem — which did not start yesterday and won’t end tomorrow.

Says Ms Bowden: “When crime is all they [young people] know, when a life of violence is expected, it is easy to fall into that — especially when they feel like there are few options otherwise. The focus should be on positive interventions within their schools and the wider community… We need social and community interventions and real investments in sustainable skills training, mentorship and meaningful engagement — not implementing a programme for six months or a year and then abandoning it, but effective and sustainable long-term strategies to keep young persons engaged.”

To the authorities and all concerned Jamaicans, we say, please take heed.