Garth Rattray
NO ONE is foolish enough to believe that the new police commissioner, Lucius Thomas, can work miracles when it comes to reducing crime over all and the number of murders in particular. Crime has rooted itself deep within the subculture of our society. Violence seems to be the method of choice for conflict resolution. People get murdered for having different political views, gang affiliations, for refusing to pay extortion, for being the victim of a robbery, for being in the wrong place at the wrong time or simply for disrespecting someone.
Commissioner Thomas has a full plate. Unfortunately, many of the things that impact on our crime rate are beyond his control. Without education, employment opportunities, upward mobility, proper housing, modern infrastructure, reformatory correctional institutions and strong leadership, no amount of policing will reduce crime for long. However, an efficient and honest police force is a vital ingredient in the anti-crime cocktail needed to bring this nation back to civility, and this is within the grasp of the commissioner.
I trust and respect the members of the police force who must co-exist daily with the undisciplined, corrupt and violent people among us. Without them, anarchy would prevail. Unlike soldiers, our police are not trained for war yet they must face hostilities that sometimes rival Middle East hotspots. It's an indictment on our society that our peace officers have to be issued with bullet-proof vests, high-powered semi-automatic weapons and armoured personnel carriers. In order to be effective, a police force must be modern, interactive, proactive, reactive, disciplined and free from corruption.
WHO CAN WE TRUST?
Police corruption is a serious infraction because cops are the guardians of the gates of justice. If we can't trust the gatekeepers, whom then can we trust? Numerous concerned members of the constabulary that have been aggrieved, embarrassed and betrayed by crooked colleagues who "undo the good works of decent police and make life difficult for everyone" (their words), have complained bitterly to me about corruption within the force.
As a rule, police are decent, hard-working, honest and self-sacrificial, career-minded individuals. However, there are several rogue cops that are involved in serious criminal activities while some abuse their power/privilege and others do a flourishing business in extortion, (especially where it concerns traffic duty). Their actions contravene all standards of ethics and their illegal practices are grossly unfair to the many upstanding policemen and women who must suffer the common ridicule, distrust and criticism.
Last December's shoot-out between rogue and regular on-duty cops was certainly very embarrassing for the constabulary but, even more importantly, it was extremely disconcerting to the general public. In an unrelated interview with the Sunday Gleaner, retired Deputy Commissioner of Police Owen Clunie, said, "The state of the force now is to some extent embarrassing and I find it extremely difficult to continue being a part of it." Mr. Clunie spoke about the problem of corruption within the force and intimated that enough is not being done to root it out.
EVENLY DISTRIBUTED
But frustrated cops tell me that although only a minority of cops are corrupt, the practice is evenly distributed throughout the ranks. This makes it impossible to know who to complain to. They genuinely feel that coming forward with information could cost them promotions, their career or even their lives.
Reducing crime lies in prevention, apprehension and convictions. Prevention involves complex socio-economic issues and convictions come under the purview of the justice system. But apprehension (the greatest deterrent to crime) requires good investigative work facilitated by information from co-operative citizens. If people do not respect and trust the police they will not co-operate in criminal investigations.
Many people know who are the killers among them, but their fear of crooked cops is on par with their fear of reprisals from criminals. Entire communities therefore, opt to ride out the incessant waves of criminality and murder in the tentative hope that the gunmen will "kill off dem one aneddah". This is no way for a civil society to operate. It's time that the force makes an all-out effort to eradicate corruption from that fine institution.
Dr Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice.
