A GLEANER-commissioned poll has confirmed that the Jamaican society is deeply divided over the March 14 killing by the police of seven young men in Braeton, south St. Catherine, in what the police said was a shoot-out.Although just over 52 per cent of those interviewed said that the killings were not justified, 46.5 per cent endorsed the actions of the Crime Management Unit, led by Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams.
Don Anderson and his team from Market Research Services Ltd. interviewed 1,000 Jamaicans, 18 years and older, throughout the island's 14 parishes from April 27 to 30. The sample of error was minus 3.2 per cent.
The team found that strongest opposition to the action of the police came from younger respondents between 18 and 24 years old, upper-income persons and persons residing in rural districts. Mr. Anderson, in his analysis, pointed out that those who supported the killing of the Braeton Seven were older persons, over 55 years of age, and persons living in Kingston, whereby over 51 per cent felt that the action of the police was justified.
QUESTION: Do you feel that the killing of the seven men in Braeton by the police was justified?
Total 55+age Kingston Upper Rural
Income
| Yes | 46.5% | 64.0% | 51.6% | 1.4% | 33.6% |
| No | 52.4% | 32.0% | 47.7% | 68.6% | 65.6% |
| Not sure | 1.1% | 4.0% | .7% | 0% | .8% |
There was also deep division over whether the police should have attempted to arrest the men before using deadly force. Mr. Anderson said that 52.9 per cent of those interviewed were of the view that the police should have found a means of apprehending the seven men rather than killing them. This view, he said, was strongest among the upper-income respondents and among persons in rural communities. Just over 45 per cent felt that the police had no alternative in the case of the Braeton Seven.
QUESTION: Do you feel that there was a way in which these men could have been arrested instead of being killed?
TOTAL Those saying Those saying kill-
killing justified ing NOT justified
| Yes | 52.9% | 21.3% | 81.1% |
| No | 45.5% | 77.8% | 17.2% |
| Not sure | 1.6% | .9% | 1.7% |
He pointed out that several options to the killing of the men were suggested by members of the public. They included:
OTHER OPTIONS
They should have been arrested 40.0%
They should have been tear-gassed 18.7%
Give them time to surrender 11.7%
Police should have been more professional 10.9%
Use less force 4.8%
Position themselves around the house 3.8%
Throw a cordon around the area 3.4%
Mr. Anderson, in his analysis of the results, said: "It is interesting to note against this background that more than 45 per cent of the persons interviewed did not feel that the police had any alternative but to act as they did as it was either difficult or impossible to apprehend and arrest the men.
"Just 21 per cent of those persons who supported the actions of the police felt that there might have been a way to have apprehended and arrested the men. The rest felt that the police simply had no alternative. Jamaicans then were divided on this issue as to whether there was another way for the police to have handled the matter."
