TODAY'S EXTRACT IS TAKEN FROM THE EDITORIAL PUBLISHED A YEAR AGO, OCTOBER 28, 2003
COMING FAST on the heels of the confrontation between residents of Flankers and members of the security forces, another taxi driver, Andrew Wilson, has been killed by the police in St Catherine under questionable circumstances. In response the National Association of Taxi Operators has mandated its members to pull their vehicles off the road, much to the inconvenience of the travelling public. Scores of taxi drivers gathered on the lawns of the office of the Police Commissioner on Old Hope Road demanding that steps be taken against the police officers.
Nor have things returned to normal at Flankers, the residents still seething with anger at the slaying of two elderly citizens and the wounding of a woman in a police operation gone wrong...
Although the Flankers killings are subject to a formal investigation, the police high command has already indicated that mistakes were made, agreeing to help with funeral expenses and giving assurances that none of the police involved in the operation will be allowed to leave the island.
Rational analysis would
clearly show that violent demonstrations of the sort taking place in Montego Bay will not bring back deceased loved ones to their relatives and stand to do irreparable harm to the island's tourist industry...
Ultimately, clear leadership on the part of the police in planning strategies to deal with crime as well as speedy and appropriate punishment of those who insist on taking the law into their own hands is the only hope of stopping the downward slide into chaos.
