Delroy ChuckCRIME IS a complex issue and not easily disentangled. No single explanation can and will suffice for crime and, indeed, for the wide variety of crimes. Yet, the level of criminality, brutality and dastardly behaviour overwhelming the Jamaican society cries out for explanation and solution. Poverty, according to Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, is not the cause of crime but does it provide the socio-economic conditions that drive people to criminality? The dons, according to Senior Superintendent Adams, contribute significantly to the escalating criminality but would their elimination stem the rising levels of crime and the fear of crime?
The two main political parties are concerned, deeply concerned, that crime is out of control, wreaking havoc on the whole society, scaring away local and foreign investors alike, causing the murder rate to reach even new heights and damaging any prospect for a better Jamaica to emerge. That reality has caused the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition with their respective teams to meet along with a Private Sector team to forge a common front, a united plan, to confront the criminal monster. Whatever policies and agreement emerge, they still have to be managed and implemented properly, and will demand the political determination, intelligence and technological support for the security forces to dent the spiralling crime wave.
The utterance of Prime Minister Patterson must be seen in the light of the Jamaica Labour Party's research showing that the sluggish and deteriorating economy is a major cause of the escalating crime. The JLP is not saying poverty is the cause of crime; it is saying there is a strong and irrefutable correlation between economic growth and declining criminality, or economic stagnation and rising criminality. PM Patterson blames the narcotics trade and the vast amount of money associated with it so what has his Government done about it? While there is much fault and blame to be attributed to the narcotics trade and the associated illegal activities, it is not the primary cause of crime. In truth, crime is caused from a combination of several factors, some psychological, some economic, some genetic and some just bare wickedness.
Most Jamaicans see crime as the number one problem in the country. Isn't it interesting that the number two problem is mounting unemployment? I think it is wrong, however, to see crime as a problem instead of the symptom of some larger social or economic ailment. We cannot control crime unless we deal effectively with the conditions that give rise to it. I feel fairly sure that much of the escalating criminality find their roots in the social frustration and neglect brought on by the economic hardships and financial deterioration experienced by so many in our nation.
When people's backs are against the wall, children have to be fed, girlfriends and wives to be appeased, hunger to be satisfied, demands to be met, then crime becomes a real alternative. To be sure, greed contributes to crime, but in today's Jamaica, the primary instinct of survival dictates human behaviour.
Wander through the inner cities and see the hundreds, nay thousands, of young people in total bewilderment, waiting and hoping for jobs and opportunities, deprived of any means of support or earnings for months and years, reaching out to anyone who can offer some means of survival, and caught in a web of hopelessness from which there is no legitimate escape. These are the candidates for the gangs, criminal activity, drug couriers and human rights abuses. These are the young people whose main production is to have more children who are caught in a continuing cycle of poverty and depravity. These are the forgotten people who feel, quite rightly, the society doesn't care.
It is in this atmosphere of frustration, desperation and necessary survival that crime breeds and flourishes.
Crime and the fruits of crime become real choices and viable options that many reluctantly but desperately take. Moreover, an economy in which wealth is not created but merely transferred from the poor to the rich is more likely to cause social tensions and conflicts, some of which invariably result in criminal conduct. Where the gap between the haves and the have-nots widens, as happens now in Jamaica, then there must be social strain, increased envy and much resentment. When poor people in the increasing pockets of poverty see how the rich and well connected benefit and prosper while they scrounge and scrape daily simply to survive, and when they feel they are not stakeholders in the nation's business, then for how long will their moral fortitude and society's laws restraint them from yielding to criminal behaviour.
I reckon there is a breaking point, a point of desperation, for virtually everyone and, in Jamaica today, many people are nearing that point, if they already have not passed it. It is in these pockets of poverty that dons emerge. They are not created by anyone, the socio-economic conditions provide for their emergence. From the depravity, scarcity and vacuum of the inner cities, dons find a role and become protectors and heroes among society's forgotten denizens. We can remove them by the dozens, even hundreds; unless the socio-economic conditions are changed and improved then others will take their place.
Let us not forget that during the past 20 years or more, the security forces have eliminated over 4,000 gunmen, gangs have eliminated a similar amount and tens of thousands have been charged and imprisoned: yet criminality in the inner cities worsens. I daresay it is not the dons who are the problems; it is the conditions in these pockets of poverty that breed them. Therefore, I do not share the views of Senior Superintendent Adams that elimination of the dons would stem the rising tide of crimes, in fact I think it would aggravate it.
Poverty may not be the cause of crimes but it certainly contributes to the conditions for crimes and many of society's ills. When we examine the countries with low crime rates, people are employed, choices are available and the quality of life constantly improves. Peace, justice, social stability and prosperity tend to go together and are the foundations of a good society. If we are to control crime, our vision of Jamaica must include the creation of wealth, the promotion of prosperity and the environment for businesses to grow and prosper. When we formulate policies to control crime, therefore, make sure we have commensurate policies to grow the economy; nothing else will work.
Delroy Chuck is an attorney-at-law and Opposition Member of Parliament. He can be contacted by e-mail at delchuck@hotmail.com.
