Recent statements by Jamaica’s Chief Justice Bryan Sykes in relation to jury trials have resulted in criticism by others in the legal profession. There have also been mixed messages from people in the public sphere.

This is what happens when people are told truths that they do not want to hear.

The jury system is, and has always been, ridiculous. That is not what the chief justice said, it is my opinion. He spoke more specifically of the need for cases to be heard by trained persons. He then made a comparison to the current educational level that is required to qualify for jury service – that being, simply, literacy.

Judicial proceedings, laws and the justice system, in general, are complicated areas that require trained persons with experience to determine if laws have been broken.

To simply summon persons from a voters’ list and ask them to perform this task is tantamount to asking a coconut vendor to perform surgery. Both actions, after all, require cutting.

The question I ask is why? What could be the reason that we would want to have untrained persons deciding whether others go to hell or go free, especially if we could use trained persons?

Is it because we have always done it like this?

Well, it seems silly to me to keep doing something wrong because we have a rich history of it. The Confederacy was formed on this theory in its effort to maintain slavery in the southern United States in the 18th century.

If something is wrong or flawed, maintaining it simply because ‘it’s our way’ makes no sense.

Recently, gun control and the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA) were again centre stage because of the murder of a Chinese couple in St Elizabeth. The couple had been denied firearm licences by the authority. The reason given was that they did not establish a need. Well, welcome to the ills of gun control.

This is why the National Rifle Association (NRA) in the USA rejects any regulation. Why? Because it allows the decision of whether you can defend yourself or your family to become the decision of other persons. It is the ultimate stripping of your right as a human to defend yourself.

Was the FLA wrong in its assessment of the risk faced by this couple? It would appear so, but remember, the FLA is not clairvoyant.

We do not know all the facts. What we do know is that they are pursuing a policy that requires applicants to establish significant need for the weapon.

This policy is flawed. I believe it is the policy set out by the Ministry of National Security. I do not think it was dreamed up by the FLA board or its management. If so, it’s one of the few things the kinistry is doing wrong. The policy needs to be geared towards arming our citizens as long as they can protect the weapon and they do not appear to be a risk to society.

Any country with this much crime should not require individual circumstances of need and risk for firearm licensing. We are all at risk. Denying us arms is denying us of our right to defend ourselves. Let the blood of these foreigners, who chose our country to invest in and raise their family, be the catalyst for change

The recent announcement by Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang to allow for the inclusion of licensed firearm holders in policing, is a step in the right direction. The time for law enforcement and crime fighting to be an old boys’ club is long past. We need to realise that we will never be able to afford to staff a full-time police force to bring Jamaica’s crime, particularly homicides, to the standard expected in a modern Caribbean state.

If this means we are a failed state with respect to the protection of our citizens, then so be it. We need to use this decision as a stepping stone to a new- look Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), with an auxiliary that is twice the size of its full-time staff.

We do not need a new home guard. We do not need a better armed neighbourhood watch in Norbrook. What we need are police officers who are allowed to work part-time, like district constables of old.

This should in no way make them less than any other police officer. It can be done with the formation of a real JCF Reserve, or a new entity that could operate separate from the JCF, like the Jamaica Defence Force, and focus on saturation and occupation. It can also happen by adjusting the policy of the JCF to allow for part-time district constables.

There is also the possibility of using the Special District Constables Act to form an occupational presence in garrison communities. There are choices. But as I said, this is a good beginning.

However, we first must accept the ugly truth that we have failed as a country to protect our poor, as men to protect our women, as parents to protect our children.

More ugly truths. As it relates to the aforementioned jury system, we have been using a flawed method forever. The Vybz Kartel jury disaster proves this. The ugly truth as it relates to the murdered Chinese couple is that gun control can only exist where you have State control, which we don’t have.

The ability of the State to prevent crime is almost zero. That is not to say that law enforcement cannot bring criminals to justice. They normally do. That is why the courts are over extended. But that will not bring back the dead.

Allow our populace to be armed, or find ways to prevent their death. It’s that simple.

The sad reality is that we keep on doing the same things the same way, getting the same negative results and then find reasons to just keep doing them, unless international interests intervene or a Government smells its doom.

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