THE CHIEF of Staff of the Jamaica Defence Force, apparently assuming the mantle of spokesman on crime, may have raised some eyebrows at a meeting of Rotarians Monday night.
Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin was reported to have told the regular monthly meeting of the Rotary Club of North St. Andrew that the security forces needed to retool and reorganise to cripple the activities of a new breed of sophisticated criminals.
Since the army constitutes half of the security forces which regularly confront the heightened levels of criminal activity, the Rear Admiral must be presumed to know whereof he speaks. For him to say that the new crime-fighting strategies mobilised by the security forces contains "nothing new" may be open to misinterpretation. For Police Commissioner Francis Forbes has spoken repeatedly of the new corporate strategy of the Force and has placed great emphasis on policemen re-establishing the vital elements of community policing especially in the inner-city sectors of the Corporate Area in particular.
If the Rear Admiral is advocating greater reliance on strategic planning to outwit criminal elements well funded and professionally deployed, his own familiarity with the arts of war should be a plus in the fight against crime. This combined with expert help from abroad could fortify the efforts of the security forces.
From the point of view of basic training it is axiomatic that policemen and soldiers undergo different preparation for their professional work. That is the factor most often cited by those who criticise the extended amalgamation of both forces in the fight against crime.
Indeed the public at large has grown accustomed to the joint patrols on the streets. And there have been several unfortunate incidents of confrontation in crisis situations involving both soldiers and policemen. Some observers believe with good reason that the over-exposure of the army dilutes the psychological effect of their presence in the theatre of civil conflict.
We believe however that the Real Admiral's concern is well grounded as a constructive approach to a problem of major proportions which has outstripped the capacity of civilian policing. The Rear Admiral should seek to make common ground with the Commissioner of Police at the strategic level of a war on crime.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
