TWO NEW developments have come to light widening the scope of criminal activity using home-grown technology. A front page news story last week reported a police raid on a gun-repair shop in Portmore, St. Catherine, where home-made guns were also being manufactured. And in today's edition, our Letter of the Day disclosed the probability that some locksmiths may be involved in car-stealing operations.
In the first instance, a common assumption is that the proliferation of illegal weapons is a result of illegal importation by a variety of means. This in turn, accounts for the alarming murder rate, as these weapons fall into the hands of gangs fighting over turf or of persons involved in personal vendettas.
The very proliferation of the weapons suggests that the support services of repairing the guns and supplying ammunition were bound to spring up. Hence the police raid on a community known as 'Pig City'.
We assume that police surveillance was facilitated by useful intelligence from law-abiding elements in the community - a facet of combating crime which is an important civic duty.
Car-stealing operations have mushroomed in recent times, obviously prompted by the great growth in numbers of vehicles on the road. Our letter writer suggests that these criminal rings now use a more sophisticated approach: removing the lock barrel from a car and then getting a key made by a locksmith.
We are not aware of the extent to which locksmiths are subject to regulation. Indeed we are advised that there is a distinction between businesses that simply make copies of keys and locksmiths so described. Presumably the latter category can make keys from lock barrels as described by our letter writer. In the circumstances, we are of the view that the authorities should advise the public as to existing regulations affecting the operations of locksmiths and investigate any links with car-stealing rings.
In the meantime, useful preventive tips are noted in the Letter of the Day on the page opposite.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
