THE EROSION of discipline in the society has happened in tandem with the decline of respect for authority. Sadly, that decline impinges on the law enforcement function of the Police Force. Over time JDF soldiers have been pressed into joint service with policemen; but the novelty has worn thin and lost the desired impact. Street protesters no longer seem deterred by a militarised police force.
This preface points to some recent disturbing incidents.
Among them, school children have stoned a police station in Kingston at least twice. More recently, citizens stoned a primary school in Old Harbour Bay, St. Catherine.
On February 28, at the World Cup qualifying football match at the National Stadium, droves of football fans scaled the walls within sight of outnumbered policemen.
The dangerous overcrowding of the venue led to one fatality when police shot an alleged thief robbing fans after the match with Trinidad. Subsequently FIFA demanded a tightening of security for last month's game with Honduras.
The JFF football chief Horace Burrell was at pains to broadcast the putting in place of a ring of security around the stadium.
On a smaller scale but, in our view, equally alarming, was the experience of a party of cricket fans who attempted to occupy their prepaid seats in the George Headley Stand at Sabina Park last Saturday.
Today's Letter of the Day on the page opposite sets out the sorry tale of how the fans defied police efforts to dislodge them from seats they had no right to occupy. And the cricket authorities apparently seemed helpless to rectify the situation.
The incident is a microcosm of a society in disarray. Sport for entertainment is now so easily transformed into an arena of gross indiscipline and defiance of lawful authority. The descent into an abyss of legal excesses may already be in train.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner.
