Support the police

THE EDITOR, Sir:

FOR THE past three months I have been attempting to express the urgent need for all Jamaica to support the police. The events of the past two weeks have only served to solidify my conviction that if there is one key to fighting the crime problem in Jamaica, it must be the citizens' support for the police.

It's a shame that in a situation where we have a serious crime problem, the Commissioner of Police has to be appealing to law-abiding citizens to support the police in their efforts to control the crime problem. Why has it reached this point? It is clear to me that apart from the government, those in the society who speak the loudest and garner the greatest public attention, have not made any serious attempt to distinguish between the police as a whole and those elements within the police force who are determined to give the force a bad name. For some, it is not in their interest to make this distinction and for others they just cannot see the need for the distinction.

I think it is very important that all those associations of this and associations of that, make clear and unequivocal statements in support of the police. As the Commissioner has stated, they are our last line of defence. I believe the burgeoning problem of citizens harbouring criminals has to be tackled urgently. If the occurrence of citizens offering support to criminals rather than the police is allowed to continue unabated, we will continue to have various groups with various agendas carrying our name into the international arena.

I would be willing to bet that Jamaica probably has the highest per capita occurrence of citizens harbouring criminals of any country in the world. I am also willing to bet that our murder rate over the years is directly related to this occurrence.

I am etc.,

PETER MYERS

E-mail: cabinetoffice@excite.com

Via Go-Jamaica

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