Damn disgrace - Former senior cop expects lower murder rate given JCF’s available technology

A retired senior police officer believes that it is "damn disgrace" that the murder rate has consistently averaged more than 1,000 annually in the past two decades, despite the Government and the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) having the resources and latest technology.

"Why isn't the police solving more crimes? The police have the tools, enuh. Let me tell something. With the police force, the police force can pick up a spent shell, say inna Kingston, and dem can tell yuh which gang a fire dah type a gun deh," said the former crime-fighter, who did not wish to be identified. "The police can narrow it down pon dem Google map and tell yuh a lot of things. All a weh yuh see pon FBI, profiling, all a dem things deh, di police also have it too, enuh. But yuh cyah a run down minor fi play major."

The long-time lawman said that criminals tend to inform on themselves before or after a crime is committed and, therefore, a task force designated to gather and analyse data should be of high priority.

"Because when yuh check the levels, every crime have an element of cell phone inna it. A man want a thing from a man, him ago call him and say, 'Bring the Clarks dem weh mi left over deh'. Automatically that should tweak yuh and as the analyst yuh go back pon yuh link chart. Why the police force don't have a 100-man analysis team set up fi deal with this issue?" he questioned. "All dem have to do, enuh, is sit down, analyse the data, and when dem finish analyse the data and call Mr [Fitz] Bailey [deputy commissioner in charge of crime] and say, 'Mr Bailey see a file yah'. All Mr Bailey affi do now is just identify the people dem who him wah fi go mek di arrest dem."

He added "Di police dem a listen phone, dem listen everybody phone. Dem have technology fi get the WhatsApp, dem have the technology fi know the conversation. Dem have the capacity to tap into dem international partners, the Canadians, the British, the Americans and the Israeli dem. So why we don't sit down, get the team, and analyse those data and go deal with the crime? Why wi nah use the equipment weh wi have? Di thing can be much better and with the help of our international partners, it can be resolved."

According to statistics from the JCF, Jamaica has recorded 653 murders from January to June 12 in 2022, which is a 2.4 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year.

The Government, led by Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Horace Chang, the national security minister, has stressed its commitment to bring down the numbers. However, the former cop believes that the murder rate is more than shameful.

"But as me say, yuh cyah have all a dem resources deh and yuh no have people fi buy into it, enuh. Yuh affi get buy-in from the whole police force. After that yuh go to the general populace fi get dem to buy-in. Then yuh will now have a reservoir of people weh a get buy-in and once yuh have that, they will give you the information," he said.