POLICE COMMISSIONER Francis Forbes has shone some light on one of the most serious threats to national security - the apparently endless flow of illegal guns into the island.According to a report from our Western Bureau, the Commissioner on Friday told police personnel from Area One in Montego Bay that there continues to be an "open pipeline" through which these weapons flow. Even more ominous, he disclosed that the vast majority of some 500 illegal guns seized annually by the police were brand new weapons.
The obvious inference is that the importation is the work of organised crime at levels of sophistication that require sufficient resources and professional management astute enough to elude the regulatory limits on legitimate trade.
As Mr. Forbes described it, the guns have not been buried and retrieved, they have been seized from the streets; therefore, the pipeline is open and spewing new weapons and ammunition.
Declaring that Jamaica "is probably the only country in the world where such a large amount of illegal weaponry can be found in the hands of the lawless," the Commissioner nonetheless claims that the police have been doing a good job in their quest to stem the flow, citing the introduction of X-ray machines at the ports.
Jamaica's world standing in this regard seems a trifle extravagant in light of the carnage sometimes reported from hot spots around the world. But the soaring local murder toll has to be linked with the apparent ease with which the lawless have access to guns to commit crime and for gang conflicts over turf. And it is a mocking reminder of the futile post-election pledge of the Prime Minister to get rid of the guns.
The drug link with arms trafficking is confirmed by the Commissioner as he cited transnational criminal networks involving a growing number of local criminals with international linkages.
A sobering aspect of the challenge faced by the Police Force is that 50 per cent of the membership have less than 10 years experience. This suggests a high level of turnover in the staffing of the rank and file. That factor would of course be complicated by the unspecified numbers of policemen believed to be involved in criminality.
In these circumstances it is not surprising that the Commissioner has sought assistance from Scotland Yard in current high-profile investigations.
As always, the support of the law-abiding public is critical, especially in the detective work the police must undertake in facing this daunting challenge to national security.
