By Lynford Simpson, Staff ReporterBOTH THE Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) have been described as lacking the intelligence capability to break the back of serious crime.
This is but one of the mixed views on the Government's latest anti-crime initiative which was launched on December 1, 2002.
While the multi-faceted approach to tackling the problem has been welcomed by many, with some persons lauding the initial success, others have questioned whether it is economically feasible to keep communities under curfew for extended periods. Others claim the real perpetrators of serious crime have simply migrated elsewhere, lying low, waiting on the security forces to wear themselves out.
Noting that only two dozen guns and several rounds of ammunition have been recovered although two inner-city communities have remained under curfew since December 1, Derrick Smith, Opposition spokesman on national security, said: "There is obviously no intelligence of any integrity because if there was then you would obviously go spear-fishing instead of net-fishing. That is not sustainable and it won't be."
His view on the lack of intelligence is shared by Harold Crooks, former head of the Island Special Constabulary Force and a former adviser to the Ministry of National Security and Justice. According to Crooks, what is needed is a civilian-led intelligence body. He said this was necessary as "there are too many institutional constraints within the army and Police Force."
Crooks said the latest initiative was working but noted that all such efforts at saturating communities with members of the security forces since 1961 had worked in the short term. "It has always managed to put the cap on the murder rate," he observed. But, he warned that it cannot be sustained. "The real problem for the Government now is to design a strategy to build on that success," he told The Gleaner.
"I want to wait like the rest of Jamaica. I'm hopeful. I live in this country. I have children in this country so as a citizen of this country I'm interested in the results at the end of this process," said University of the West Indies Professor of Sociology and Criminology, Bernard Headley.
He said the Government was justified in sending troops into sections of West Kingston when
there was a threat to life and the general security of the residents in the area.
But he, too, warned that: "That kind of thing as we know does not offer over the long term, the results that we all desire. It has really very little to do with prevention over the long haul but we are all waiting to see the measures they have talked about putting into phase two," he said.
Phase two refers to the economic and social renewal of the inner cities. Professor Headley said it was not sustainable to keep the security forces in communities for extended periods. He is also opposed to having soldiers performing duties he thinks should be reserved for the police.
He supports community policing of the kind that many countries are moving towards, but warned that keeping a 'garrison force' inside a community for an extended period would only create further tension and exacerbate relations.
Gleaner columnist Professor Don Robotham thinks the latest initiative is "going in the right direction. The data is there and the homicides are down ...I think that there is also an attempt to change the approach of the police," he stated.
He said the attempt to deal with the civil liberties issue was also important as this was the "least satisfactory" aspect of the equation to date. He said he was not satisfied that this point is "grasped with sufficient practical seriousness".
The professor questioned whether oversight committees like the one established to deal with excesses committed by members of the JDF had the resources and authority to function effectively.
While the High Command of the JCF did not respond to The Gleaner's request for an interview, the JDF said it was "well on its way to being successful" with three of five strategies it had enunciated for the success of these types of operations.
The five JDF strategies are:
- Winning the hearts and minds of the communities.
- Helping to rebuild the communities by supporting community-based organisations.
- Using its presence to dislodge, dislocate, displace and disorient the criminal
elements.
- To conduct intelligence-driven and focused operations to bring criminals
to justice.
- To hand over operations in these communities to the police, wherein the
JCF would be able to carry out community policy.
The army said it was well on its way to accomplishing the first three of the listed objectives.
Members of the JDF have been deployed alongside the police since December to aid in the anti-crime efforts.
