Dear Editor,

It is no joke watching tears stream down the faces of loved ones as their deceased family members are being committed to the earth. The echoed sentiment is that they did not deserve to die in the manner in which they did.

Criminals have become unduly brazen as they are equipped with the firepower to match the security forces and will even take on the cops in the station. The odds go further south when the factors of residents and rights groups are stocked up against the efforts of crime fighters. It is most unfortunate that residents, who know the killers of their loved ones, are mute about the information in fear for their own lives.

Conversely, these same residents are emboldened in mere sleeping attire to stand up against the security forces who are dressed in their full uniforms, with batons, pepper spray, and rifles in hand. Community members have been seen in videos arguing, kicking, pushing, shoving, and evening fighting officers as they seek to execute their duties. These actions coupled with the silence of our leaders serve to demoralise the security forces and empower criminals, who are properly funded and adequately staffed to rain down death and destruction on Jamaicans.

The fight against crime and violence cannot only be fought by the security forces as crime is impartial and affects from the pastor to the pew. It has been shown time and again that crime is everybody’s business.

Criminals are not standing by waiting on peace marches; they are active in their quest to turn Jamaica into a big Haiti. Our leaders not only need to talk tough about crime but show by their actions that they support crime fighting and want to see a crime-free Jamaica.

The People’s National Party (PNP), the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), rights groups, the Independent Commission of Investigations, the security forces, and the general public need to realise that the enemy is the criminal and not each other. In order to save Jamaica there has to be unity

Hezekan Bolton

h_e_z_e@hotmail.com