Imagine you are in a meeting room. Serious and important issues are being discussed. Somebody walks in and throws a dead and decaying cat on the meeting table. The almost certain reaction — if not the inevitable one — is this: Everyone’s attention immediately shifts to the dead, decaying cat on the table. That is just human.

Human attention spans are very fickle. That fickleness is an evolutionary feature, not a bug. We live in a world of 24/7 news cycles, which greatly amplifies uncertainty about the state of the world. Some studies report that, on average, we spend 8.5 hours a day glued to our screens.

Some 2025 scholarly studies suggest the average human attention span has dropped significantly — often cited at around 8.25 seconds, down from 12 seconds in 2000 — largely because of digital distractions. Other credible research finds much longer spans (around 47 seconds) for motivated tasks, especially visual ones like watching videos. Experts explain that our brains are hardwired to rapidly filter information and zero in on threats/changes in the environment. This is a human reality.

Here is a related human reality. Among other things, political capital is directly related to — and determined by — the amount of water those holding or seeking political office can catch with a very small container from a swiftly moving river.

In this topsy-turvy context, the dead cat strategy is invariably a first option in the blood sport called representational politics, particularly in jurisdictions like Jamaica. Prime Minister P J Patterson famously said it best when he described our politics as “a fight for scare benefits and spoils carried on by hostile tribes perpetually at war”.

Should we believe Patterson? Yes! He was prime minister for 14 years — Jamaica’s longest-serving. Rural folks often say: “If fish come from river bottom and tell you that shark down there, believe him.” I agree.

As in other industries, those in the blood sport arena of politics and related spheres strive to capture and hold public attention. Why? Voters, consumers, audiences, etc, more often than not, first vote, absorb, consume with their hearts, rather than their heads.

In representational politics winning the frequently brutal contest for attention thus remains one of the primary paths to obtaining — and retaining — State power. Distractions — and more distractions — are therefore fed to an unsuspecting public. Remember the adage about “bread and circuses”. It comes from the Roman poet Juvenal, who critiqued how rulers kept the masses content and distracted from real political issues by providing free food (bread) and elaborate public spectacles (circuses, games, gladiatorial contests), instead of addressing genuine problems or granting true civic rights — thus ensuring obedience and preventing revolt.

Roman politicians and related elites were experts in the use of the dead cat strategy. Believe it, the throwing of dead and decaying cats into the public arena is more prevalent now than when the Roman Empire exited. In 1988, Edward S Herman and Noam Chomsky published their celebrated book
Manufacturing Consent in which they made the point that powerful elites employ a “strategy of distraction” to keep public attention limited and focused on insignificant matters. This will not change any time soon. ‘Dead cats’ has been a political strategy since time began.

WARNING AND PRAISE

We who have the knowledge have a duty to warn. Without a doubt, when a mongoose is spotted in the henhouse, an alarm must be raised. The reasons are obvious. For starters, the mongoose doesn’t lay eggs. And in many jurisdictions they are considered an invasive species. Nature has a way of serving as both a literal and figurative template for real life.

On the matter of life — the most precious gift of all — last year Jamaica recorded below 700 murders. The significance of this achievement cannot and must not be hidden under a bushel, as some would like. It was 31 years ago that we last recorded fewer than 700 murders in a calendar year.

Minister of National Security and Peace Dr Horace Chang deserves huge credit for his skilful leadership on policy. He took a job that no one wanted. By the way, adding the word “peace” to the nomenclature of national security is, in my view, tautological. Why? Simply, if you achieve security, you have peace — and vice versa. It’s “Elementary, my dear Watson.” Think Sherlock Holmes.

Anyway, former Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson, who did a lot of the heavy lifting during six years of meaningful service, deserves a lot of credit, too, for today’s welcomed reduction in major crimes — murders in particular.

Consider this banner headline from The Gleaner of April 4, 2023: ‘All major crimes down for the first quarter of 2023’. The news item said, among other things: “Jamaica has recorded a 22 per cent reduction in major crimes for the first quarter of the year. At the end of March, murders were down by 21 per cent, while shootings declined by 13 per cent.

“Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson said rape decreased by 47 per cent while robberies reduced by 32 per cent. And break-ins declined by 11 per cent.”

Present Commissioner of Police Dr Kevin Blake has been doing a very good job. He deserves considerable credit.

All things considered, the fact is that today’s substantial reduction in all major crimes is the result of dedicated work by a strong team of very skilled relay runners over several years. It took sacrifice, blood, sweat, and tears to get where we are.

The dedicated men and women who serve in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) are a credit to their profession. The major reduction in crime we are seeing would not be possible without them working beyond the call of duty every day.

I anticipate some will say, “But the security forces have some very rotten apples in their ranks.” True! So what is to be done — condemn the two groups because of the rotten apples? Never! The answer, as I see it, is to continue strengthening the systems within the security forces so as to promote high and honest performance while managing the rotten apples out.

The thousands of ordinary citizens who have helped and continue to help make the job of the police in this country a little less burdensome also deserve generous plaudits. Police work in this country is especially dangerous. Thankfully, the ‘informer fi dead’ culture is dying fast. Many more Jamaicans are waking up to the reality that a criminal is loyal only to himself/herself. Virtuous murderers, drug dealers, and the like, do not exist. Those who murder, pillage, rob, and rape, are not good people.

DEAD CAT, ENABLERS

It bears repeating 474 fewer Jamaicans were murdered last year compared to 2024. Jamaica recorded 673 murders in 2025, falling below 700 for the first time in 31 years. Believe it or not, this piece of extremely good news is very disappointing for some among us. Why? It does not suit their agendas.

It has not escaped my notice — nor that of other discerning citizens — that some among us, along with their confederates elsewhere, are doing their darnedest to pour cold water on this generational reduction in local murders.

Some of these bad-lampers are well-heeled, well-credentialled, and/or clad in shiny robes. It seemingly does not matter to them that the vast majority of Jamaicans do not live in gated communities. Most Jamaicans cannot afford to hire private security companies, do not have licensed firearms, cannot afford ferocious guard dogs, do not own high-tech cameras, and do not earn disposable incomes to purchase even low-tech security devices to protect person and property.

Always keep a sharp eye on those around you who are not happy for your happiness. A similar principle is applicable to people nationally who are sorely disappointed when Jamaica achieves major advances. These are the kinds of people who are quite prepared to ride on the coffins of Jamaicans proving that it will feather their individual nests.

In their sordid effort to try and delegitimise, diminish and minimise the historic 42 per cent decline in murders last year, miserabilists, con artists, and charlatans have intimated that the 311 police fatal shootings in 2025 should be added to the 673 murders. That fuzzy mathematics, they argue, would give the real picture of the state of murders and other major crimes in Jamaica.

Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake told this newspaper that, “While we are not happy with increased fatal shootings, the number represents less than 0.3 per cent of all police/citizen interactions.” Those whose aim it is to pull wool over the eyes of especially unsuspecting Jamaicans have conveniently ignored that fact. I am not surprised. Ignorance of this fact suits their agendas.

Ponder this too: “It must be clearly stated that the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s preference is, and has always been, to preserve life and bring offenders before the court. The data for 2025 supports this unequivocally. To give context to the discussion, we have increased operations by over 70 per cent, this means that there were over 100,000 interactions between police and citizens over the year, said Dr. Blake.” (Jamaica Observer, December 30, 2025)

This crucial bit of verified information has also conveniently escaped the world view of those who are anxious to see Jamaica reduced to ashes if that means they will become her rulers. These are hoodwinkers. They mean this country no good.

I have said this here previously, but it bears repeating, “While the Administration continues to be tough on crime and the causes of crime, all well-thinking Jamaicans need to join the fight against criminals. Those who refuse to join this good fight are merely setting up themselves to become prey.

“I do not believe that powder puffs and hugs should be applied to criminals who shoot at the police or otherwise endanger the lives of law-abiding citizens. Criminals have had the upper hand in this country for a long, long time. They are on the run today. And they must be kept on the run.”

The police commissioner said far more people are arrested than are killed. He notes that “thousands of suspects are taken into custody each year without injury or loss of life”.

Enablers of dead cats know this but keep a stony silence. Why? Simply admitting it would likely ‘stop their food’ (financial ruin), as we say locally. Reality!

For those who make a living by killing, robbing, and raping, and for those who eke out their daily bread by saying “prayers to the devil every day”, here is a bit of great news for you to choke on. Up to the time of writing, murders in Jamaica had declined 54 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year. That means that 32 fewer Jamaicans have been murdered in 2026 compared to 2025.

The enablers of dead cats must not be allowed to slow Jamaica’s advance. They must never win since there are far more good and decent Jamaicans than those reprobates.

‘SLACKCIDENTS’ OR ACCIDENTS?

A friend of mine says that many of our road crashes should rightly be called ‘slackcidents’.

Three hundred and seventy-four people were killed in road crashes in 2025. This newspaper recently reported that 7,420 people had been killed on our roads over the last 20 years. Careless driving accounts for many of these ‘slackcidents’. Most of them could easily have been prevented.

Among other things, I believe our legislators now need to seriously consider adapting Texas’s Bentley’s Law — which requires those convicted of intoxication manslaughter to pay child support for the children of the parent they killed — to ensure financial support for victims’ families until the child turns 18 or graduates high school, whichever comes later. This would add a powerful additional layer of accountability beyond criminal penalties for drunk driving. It’s time for action. The madness must stop.

Garfield Higgins is an educator and journalist. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or higgins160@yahoo.com.

LEAD PIC Crime, especially murder, is down significantly for 2025 over 2024..

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness (third right) is joined by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security and Peace Dr Horace Chang (second right) as he addresses members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) during a visit to the community of Commodore in Linstead, St Catherine, on Monday, October 6. The visit followed a brazen gun attack on a family home in the community during which nine people were shot — five fatally, including a four-year-old child. (Photo: JIS)

Commissioner of Police Dr Kevin Blake

Dr Horace Chang, minister of national security and peace

Former Commissioner of Police Antony Anderson.