Many years ago, in the early 90s, there was a murder case that involved two separate gang members affiliated with two separate gangs in Spanish Town. Strangely enough, it involved two men from opposing gangs who had collaborated to kill a young truck driver who was at the wrong club at the wrong time.

It was the first murder I was involved in investigating. It was particularly intimidating because it was a different time, and gang members ruled the country. They were more than politically affiliated; they were politically protected.

So whilst we were going through the judicial process to convict them of their crime, we had to contend with the gang members attending court and sitting in the courtyard, which was very intimidating to the witnesses and, quite frankly, to me.

This could never happen now. If you think that any members from any gang could have the temerity to come to the courtyard in Spanish Town to hang around whilst court proceedings are going on, then you don’t understand modern-day policing in Spanish Town, and you don’t understand Superintendent Camendo Thoms. That gathering would not last one hour and would never take place a second time.

You see, gang members don’t put themselves out there like that anymore; it’s simply not safe. They no longer have political protection.

They have protection from human rights organisations. But United States President Donald Trump isn’t taking away visas on their ‘say so’, so their treason has no market. Anyhow, back to the trial.

One of the men who would come to court to scowl at the witnesses and myself was a man known as Bulby. He would later become quite famous, but back then he was just a common thug. He died in the early 2000s after making a name for himself. But, to me, he was just a thug; heavier, older, richer, more powerful. But a thug is a thug.

He would, a few years after those days in the courtyard, formalise extortion in Spanish Town, and create a model that would be adapted in downtown Kingston and in various other zones in Jamaica, not to include Portmore because that wasn’t gonna happen unless I was dead.

The model he perfected after killing his fellow gang member and courtyard occupier to steal his throne and create the Klansman gang, was to prey on large business concerns in Spanish Town. As time progressed, the model changed. This occurred for various reasons.

Some businessmen, including myself, would not pay it. In fact, I have been waiting two decades for someone to come and ask me for an extortion payment.

The Klansman gang separated in two, the One Order gang got into the business, and the anti-gang legislation started to cause them to be remanded by the scores.

The lack of stability brought in the second wave of extortion; that being to prey on people in the transport sector. This was largely an operation that was practised through the bus park.

The police eventually took control of the bus park so they moved their operation to collection on the routes.

They then adjusted their game to focus on vendors in a far more organised and structured way. They still focus on shops run by new Asian businessmen, largely because they are foreigners and are not yet comfortable enough to stand up for themselves.

This model is what stands today, but the spoils are divided into several factions and collection of the extortion is a dangerous activity because Spanish Town police officers are serious about their job.

So, ironically, a system that started by preying on wealthy businesses is now largely focused on collecting from the poor.

It is much harder to fight extortion when the market to collect from is so large and so poor. They are not going to help you by giving evidence. They can’t even if they wanted to, which I’m not sure they do.

This model exists in downtown Kingston as well, particularly by the taxis who work in that zone. What will be the next evolution?

I see possibilities of it growing into a new monster, especially after the return of a now-displaced strongman. Let’s face it, he’s coming home. His previous wealth came reportedly from narcotic trafficking to the United States, to a significant degree. I don’t see him messing with those guys again. An attempt to extort big businesses in Kingston will end badly for him, so I don’t see him going there.

The model I see is a forced closure of businesses in that zone because of an attempt for those businesses to be owned by the gangs.

It’s not that difficult, a message will just be sent to a Chinese wholesaler to close down within 48 hours, the next step is the gang coming in and owning the business. This practice will then spread to other areas of business.

It won’t work, though. After a few years, it will run out of steam.

A gangster can’t run a business any better than a businessman can run a gang. It’s simply a different dynamic. But, in the interim, we will have chaos.

That’s why we have Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA), the Financial Investigations Division (FID), and several arms of the Jamaica Constabulary Force ready and waiting to face this challenge that has been tried before by the mafia and other segments of organised crime in the United States.

I have had several difficult vocations in my 40 years of adult employment, ranging from an enthusiastic dog washer, bailiff, bad debt collector, police officer, retailer, wholesaler, restaurateur, security executive, and more recently an academic. By far the hardest job I have ever had is being a businessman, irrespective of the area of business I was in at any particular time. It’s just so hard, from pleasing customers to surviving government regulators it’s a never-ending job.

You have to think like a businessman to be a businessman. I always tell my children — who are also in business — to practise on me when they do business with me to really please the client. Because that is the true challenge of being in business.

That is why a criminal cannot operate a business. They can force someone to use their labour on a construction site, but they can’t force people to shop with them. So they can’t realistically build a clientèle.

A customer doesn’t buy your fabric because he’s afraid of you. He buys your fabric because he wants the use of the fabric.

All criminals know is intimidation; they know nothing about trying to please anyone. That is why their families are usually a disaster, despite their wealth.

We have to think ahead of the gangs. We have to look at the leadership, both current and in the future. We have to look on genetic-based inheritance and leadership that is likely to be achieved by brutality.

We can’t just look at the 40-year-old leader if we have to plan for the future. That pleasant young man, 15 years old attending a traditional high school, is likely not going to choose a life practising a profession. We need to focus on him from early, both in terms of rehabilitation and with a plan to prevent his succession. This is the harsh reality of gang dynasties.

Changing them from becoming their parents is difficult. I have tried on several occasions, and the only difference has been the emotion I have felt regarding their demise versus the emotion I felt about their parents’ demise. Doesn’t matter; both end up dead, irrespective of the generation.

Cutting the financial reward for criminal activity, as well as creating an environment in which the police force is viewed as a potent threat are both necessary components to combat gang activity.

Extortion remains a massive income-earner for criminal organisations. To crush it you have to develop a system that results in long sentences in prison, for simply collecting it. This will result in the person at the bottom of the gang chain becoming witnesses against the persons at the top.

It will evolve. It has evolved so much already. We need to predict, plan, and then destroy. If not, a new generation will simply grow up and continue the activity.

Feedback: drjasonamckay@gmail.com