Dear Editor,

The recent killing of Othniel “Thickman” Lobban makes one reflect on the inner workings of the criminal underworld where the revolving door is always spinning at a rapid pace to receive and elevate another dangerous don as quickly as one is eliminated.

Sadly, this unconscionable and brutal policy is stuck on repeat and cruel criminal candidates are always available and ready to fill this vicious vacuum. The simple reason is that they are power-hungry and neither death, destruction, devastation, or any other form of danger will deprive them of their gruesome goal and heartless ambition.

Sadly, the pronoun ‘they’ is not only restricted to members of the criminal underworld but also extends to the State, whose responsibility it is to address this matter most effectively and protect the lives and properties of the weak, innocent, and defenceless hard-working citizens of this country. Unfortunately, the opposite occurs: the usual, very predictable reactive shenanigans of those in authority do very little to address the situation.

By this I mean that when criminals and murderers are viewed as demi-gods in their communities and beyond and cause all sorts of merciless murders and mayhem and hold these communities at ransom, the State apparatus immediately shifts into reactive gear and tries to assess and address this clear and present danger only after the fearful and furious facts. So when incendiary incidents occur, similar to that which played out recently in Spanish Town — where the entire business district was forced to close; where owners and operators of these business entities had to flee; where commercial and economic activities came to a standstill as commuters were left stranded; where the tyres of police vehicles were slashed, leaving law enforcers virtually immobile, among other dangerous disruptions — everyone is appalled and angry. Then, after all this, the reliably reactive Government calls out the army, more police officers, and issues various warnings to residents to avoid these ‘hot spots’ at all cost.

And, as usual, many inner-city residents religiously play their part in the overall scheme of things, appearing in their numbers to fully support their ‘super-suppliers’, whose ill-gotten resources are no bother to them and never seem to run dry. In fact, these residents rally behind their providers, uttering platitudes and flatteries of how these community dons were good and well-loved godfathers and permanent protectors.

Still, in spite of these recurring atrocities, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), Jamaica Defence Force(JDF), along with successive administrations seem not to have got one simple and straightforward fact: Whenever they know of callous criminals and maniac murderers brutally ‘governing’ an entire community and operating by their very own rules, they must be proactive, not reactive.

Change is indeed constant, because the more things change, the more they remain the same. It is either these people do not learn from experience or they lack common sense. How else can this recurring situation be explained? If a so-called don is on the most wanted list and police officers decide to apprehend him, measures must be put in place, way before such operations occur, to prevent disruption to law-abiding citizens and communities. This is quite conspicuous and crystal clear, yet the authorities seem blind to this obvious fact. Or are they?

Maybe some of these criminal elements are aligned to one or the other of the political parties. Did I just use the word ‘maybe’? How dare me! Plus some rogue cops may very well be getting some form of benefit from these criminal elements.

Whatever the case may be, the sad reality is that whether it is the criminals, agents of the State, or any other authority, the predicament is that they will all continue to indulge in this recurring reactive retribution, and they will do it every time.

Peter Price

anhaz2965@ gmail.com