I grew up around Jamaica’s super cops of the 1970s and 80s, as men like Keith ‘Trinity” Gardner, GC Grant, Isaiah Laing and Winston Fung were close friends with my father. He himself was a legend in his own time, they called him “Castro”, not because of politics but rather because of his appearance.

They were all larger than life figures, brave and confident. No bulletproof vests or fear of human rights organisations.

To me, as a 20-year veteran of special squads, they were the ones I wanted to be like. I am not sure if my colleagues and I have ever quite measured up.

However, I am talking about my father and his peers so my judgement is likely skewed. Remember, ‘daddy’ is still ‘daddy’. So as a social scientist I will use actual measurements to determine the comparison.

The most skilled with firearms from the legendary Operation Squad, commonly called Eradication Squad were GC Grant, Winston Fung and Ronnie McKay. No member of any of the current special squads can hold a candle to them in accuracy and handling of a handgun. That includes myself, not to say I haven’t tried but I can’t yet measure up to them.

Note though that I speak of special squads, not squads that are made up of trainers who teach on a daily basis. The department of weapons and tactical training of the Jamaica Constabulary Force currently led by Sergeant Cliff Roy Hamilton are the best in use of firearm in the entire island, and are the best the force has ever produced. You can’t beat the trainers, that’s their thing.

Courage? I think they were braver. They didn’t have the bulletproof vests or the ballistic shields, or the bullet resistant helmets. In fact, in the 70s they had significantly inferior weapons than the politically affiliated gangs.

Investigation? Well, in those days the detectives were the actual crime fighters. This changed in the 90s, first slowly, and then by the early 2000s all of us who were operationally inclined were transferred to operations. So I would have to say the fact that they were actual investigators, those squads would be able to conduct better investigations.

Effectiveness? Well, they literally fought the gangs that were created by the political parties that ruled the island. They had to wrestle back the country from almost total gang control and were able to prevent a total capitulation of the Government. They, in fact, reduced murders by 50 per cent between 1980 and 1987. So on this rubik I would have to admit, as effective as we are, they were more effective.

Question: Could they do as well as us in this current environment?

They didn’t have to contend with being stripped of their right to remain silent. They didn’t have a government-led institution called Indecom that is judged by its foreign donors, based on how much police officers it charges or subjugates into inactivity. Knowing them as well as I did they couldn’t function in this environment and be as effective as they were in the 70s and 80s.

Let me break this down for you. Currently, if you are in a shooting you are automatically off frontline duty for two weeks. That didn’t occur back then. That alone would take you off the road for a significant enough time to make you less effective.

Then there is elevation. Indecom and IPROB have an input into anybody being promoted. If you have too many shootings there is a process that you are required to go through before you are elevated. Would that group of men be willing to limit their career or would they limit their participation in operations that lead to combat? I’m not sure.

Then there is the number of gunmen, and the quality of gunmen. There are far more gunmen now. Then again, our population is almost 1,000,000 more people than it was 40 years ago.

I am positive that the gunmen of the 70s and 80s were of a higher calibre, rather than the bunch of cowardly mongrels that I fight daily. Back in the 70s and 80s you at least had criminals with an ideological excuse for their behaviour. This lot is just plain lazy, selfish, cowardly.

Some criminals in the 70s and 80s were actually exposed to training in Cuba under the Brigadista programme. Our current crop get their training from a joystick on the computer screen. There is a little comparison of a ‘Starky’ to a ‘Tesha’.

It is harder to be a legend now. Cops of yesteryear were real legends. My eyes still open when I see Cornwall “Bigga” Ford calling me, and he is still spoken to with reverence. Promotions didn’t slow those men down. I recall GC Grant in the Gun Court up to his retirement. I fought beside “Bingy” White to his last weeks in office and he was a superintendent.

We are supported by a far superior CIB. Most of the times when we apprehend criminals our detectives could charge them with a crime. Not to say that the detectives of the past weren’t great, they were, but the science available to us now makes this group of investigators the most potent in our history and gives us as special squad officers less reoffending gunmen to deal with.

Then there is politics. Those men had to fight their own leaders, and still went out to war every day. Politicians of our era do not openly support gunmen. This makes life much easier for us.

Legal representation available to them vs us. Well, they had Churchill Neita, Ian Ramsay and Howard Hamilton. We have Peter Champagnie, Valerie Neita and Christopher Townsend. Both eras had great representation.

I could go on and on. The similarities are greater than the differences. We are both committed groups of men. We both love our country. We both have our unique challenges. But I still give the legends the edge.

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