Garth Rattray
I WISH to publicly congratulate my colleague, Dr. Jephthah Ford, on his latest Letter of the day, 'Call for a victim support fund'.
It was an excellent article, published in The Gleaner last week Wednesday. The piece cited cases where the relatives of murder victims were in need of financial support because crime had robbed them of their current or future breadwinner.
He suggested the establishment of a fund financed by adding 15 per cent to the fines being imposed for violent crimes. I wholeheartedly agree with his analysis that "The fight against crime demands these further remedies".
Our country badly needs a precipitous reduction in all crime. Our investment opportunities depend on this, our critical tourist industry depends on this, our health, well-being and future depend on this.
LONG TRAIL OF VICTIMS
The assault against rampant criminality and unrestrained murders has to be multi-faceted because we are dealing with a monstrous hydra with many venomous heads.
For every single murder, there are several victims whose lives have been derailed or torn apart.
Dependents are left to fend for themselves emotionally and economically; parents have their lineage cut short and their comfort and support in their advancing years erased entirely. Murder and other crimes leave a long trail of victims in their wake.
I found a meaningful definition of 'victim' in the Arizona Constitutional Rights for Crime Victims Article II Section 2.1 Victim's Bill of Rights wherein a victim is "a person against whom a criminal offence has been committed or if the person is killed or incapacitated, the person's spouse, parent, child or other lawful representative, except if the person is in custody for an offence or is the accused".
PERPETUAL, VICIOUS CYCLE
Every time that we ignore the needs of victims we are sewing seeds of acrimony and apathy. We, therefore, set ourselves up for a perpetual and vicious cycle of violence and death.
Just last week, I saw a young man who was forced to watch helplessly as his father was shot to death. He was poor, depressed, frustrated and consumed by hate.
His anger was palpable. It's only a matter of time before he explodes on society and uses the pain that he inflicts on others as an opiate to soothe the rage within him.
Even the media sometimes demonstrates scant regard for
grief-stricken friends and relatives.
A cowardly and cold-bloodied murderer sneaked up on young Linval Thompson as he sat in the rear seat of a taxi stopped at a traffic light. He shot the unarmed and unaware audit clerk in the back several times yet a comment by a taxi driver that the shooter must have been a "superb marksman" was reported in the newspaper (Jamaica Observer 'Rush hour murder', April 14, 2005).
My wife remarked that the newspaper published a free ad for the killer. This represents sensationalism without regard for the feelings of those left to mourn his passing.
We have to be far more caring and supportive. We need to enact legislation to ensure that our numerous victims of crime receive support and assistance.
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATE
I have always held the view that all victims of crime should be the responsibility of the state. All surviving victims should receive counselling and some financial support if needed. If someone is murdered, no child, spouse or parent should suffer because of the wicked actions of criminals.
We need support groups for our physically and psychologically wounded, for our distraught relatives, grieving acquaintances and traumatised communities.
In spite of all the effort and money put into fighting crime, it's painfully obvious that we are not getting it right because murders are becoming more frequent, daring and more gruesome as they set new records every year.
It's time to add a new weapon to our armamentarium against criminality. Our society is bleeding profusely from deep, unhealed wounds while more are inflicted upon it every day.
Dr. Ford's suggestion is a brilliant one, but given the intrinsic inertia of our bureaucratic process that moves at a snail's pace, while events that shape our lives and deaths unfold at warp speed all around us, I wonder if anyone will listen.
Dr Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice.
