My crime plan for Jamaica

It seems that every day there is a call for a crime plan to deal with the scourge that has Jamaicans running scared.

For me, there can be no crime plan until we stop celebrating criminality.

For years, I have been harping about the fact that taxi and bus drivers only continue to drive recklessly because we do and say nothing when they do.

Similarly, we continue to withhold information about the criminals that live among us. We see their actions but choose to ignore them because it does not affect us, until it does. By then it would have been too late.

A part of that, I guess, is the fact that we do not trust the police. Why? Because we know they are like us.

Too many within the force are complicit with the criminality that exists around us. The number of police personnel recently charged with serious crime is only the tip of the massive iceberg.

That presents a conundrum for many Jamaicans who really don't know who to trust and are satisfied with doing nothing, because that is the easy thing to do.

So, how do we go about sorting this issue out?

Well, for starters, can we just lock up every taxi driver who drives on the wrong side of the road, or who exceeds speed limits, and turn those vehicles into scrap metal?

We then need to start vigorously prosecuting the 'little things', littering, loud music on public transport and other relatively minor offences.

Consistency in prosecuting these things will, I believe, have significant impact in six to nine months.

During this period, the Jamaica Constabulary Force should also aggressively pursue, prosecute and imprison corrupt cops and dirty politicians.

I guarantee you that after the first few convictions, some semblance of order would be restored, as there would be a flood of information coming in from all and sundry.

Once that happens, then focus on the gangs because, by then, there would be fewer interference from those who are supposedly in power.

Shortly thereafter, we would all wake up one morning and Jamaica's out-of-control crime problem would be a thing of the past.

The island would return to being the beautiful place it was meant to be.

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