Dear Editor,

One heist, two heists, multiple automated teller machines (ATMs) hit and millions in the hands of criminals have been the daily headlines.

The numerous successful attacks on security companies transporting money and ATMs have only inconvenienced law-abiding citizens, with some ATMs removed. Criminals have been showing that they are heavily armed, fearless, and willing to take the fight to the State. They show their brazenness by turning up to perform in broad daylight, putting on a show for the cameras.

With all the criminal happenings in recent times, the silence of the authorities is deafening. The questions asked are: Will the attention of the Government be refocused on crime after the budget debate? Or has the public sector compensation review distracted the Government from fighting crime? It seems the authorities are reactively playing catchup or they have got swollen heads from the reported reduction in crime since the beginning of the year. Slowly, reactive complacency has been eroding the gains achieved in crime fighting, to include lotto scamming, reprisal shootings, and the newest member of the cast, money heists.

The mayor of Portmore Leon Thomas has called for business interests in the municipality to assist with adding cameras to key areas in the soon-to-be parish. While this is a good move, many of the latest incidence of violence have been captured on camera, but what has been the result?

There are many screws that need tightening in our crime-fighting efforts. This is evident with over half of the gang members being freed in the recent Klansman gang trial. It is evident that even with JamaicaEye criminals have become emboldened, killing police, soldiers, and security guards and are still at large. Gone are the days when tough-talking crime fighters would drive fear into thugs. We now wonder if the minister of national security is away on business in Haiti.

The recent pronouncements by our prime minister, the “Honourable Brogad”, about sending our security forces to assist in Haiti’s crime fighting was a little overly ambitious. Jamaica has been swallowed up with criminals, so much so that states of emergency (SOEs) have been imposed in over six parishes at once. This has left no extra police or soldiers to help Haiti, not that we wouldn’t want to, but Spanish Town, Portmore, Maxfield, South Side, and so many more areas in Jamaica are under siege.

We call on Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang, Commission of Police Major General Antony Anderson, and Chief of Defence Staff Antonette Wemyss Gorman to get a hold of crime before we become a Haiti.

Hezekan Bolton

h_e_z_e@hotmail.com