Send in spies ....Adams said commish should flood MoBay with undercover cops

Insisting that there is no need for new laws to help the security forces deal with the crime problem in Montego Bay, St James, Reneto Adams said that peace can be restored to the Second City if the commissioner of police does his job well.

Adams, who retired from the Jamaica Constabulary Force at the rank of senior superintendent of police, argued that Dr Carl Williams, the police commissioner, should saturate Montego Bay with undercover cops.

These cops, he said, should collect intelligence on wrongdoers in order to mount prosecutions against them.

"The commissioner must let out at least 50 people now in Montego Bay, from the police force - undercover - to see who are the people making problems, to gather the intelligence and to catch these people. Don't wait on the informal intelligence. Many big men in Montego Bay are behind it. Get intelligence on them and have them arrested," Adams told THE STAR yesterday.

"A general crime plan must be done by the commissioner of police, starting on a three-month basis, and if it is not abated within three months, then we go to six months."

Adams also argued that the police should immediately implement a zero-tolerance approach to crimes in the Second City.

"You arrest the man who is going down the one-way street with his bicycle, arrest people for disorderly conduct ... deal with the simple things," Adams said.

The call for a zero-tolerance approach to fighting crime has also been made by Mayor of Montego Bay Glendon Harris.

In an interview with THE STAR last Thursday, Harris described the situation in his city as horrific.

"This can't be real," he said of the crime situation as he pressed his call for all crimes to be prosecuted.

"Every single one of us must abide by the law to the T. You can't drive up the one-way, you can't break the stop light. You can't litter the place. You break the law, you have a court day tomorrow and that matter is dealt with," Harris said.

ANTI-CRIME PLAN

Meanwhile, Adams yesterday said that Jamaica has been struggling to tame the crime beast because of a dependence of the national security minister to produce an anti-crime plan. According to the tough-talking Adams, the production of the crime plan is the role of the commissioner of police.

"What is the poor minister going to do about Montego Bay? It is the commissioner of police who must go down there and put systems in place," he said.

The former, tough crime-fighter said that criminals feel that they are unlikely to be caught and punished. He said that when the chances of being caught are increased, the level of criminality will decrease.

"If effective, efficient police management goes on, it can take less than two weeks to clear up," Adams said.

Approximately 15 persons have been killed in St James since last week. Adams said that sufficient laws are on the books to help the security forces manage the current crisis.

"The police don't want nuh more power, the police force is one of the most powerful in the world. It is the only police force yuh can see man a street and just grab him up, and probably him don't even commit an offence. You just suspect that he committed and offence and you can take him and go interrogate him," Adams said.