THE DECLARATION read at yesterday's Emancipation Park rally against crime and violence is an important, all-encompassing statement calling for commitment and co-operation from all sectors of the society.
The sentiments we are sure will be endorsed by well-thinking, law-abiding citizens. The implementation of some of the points will, of course, require more than goodwill.
For example, we are not sanguine that politicians who may have had long associations with gunmen will simply be able to disentangle themselves, as called for. They must be flushed out by the forces of law and order.
But do the security forces have the free hand to do that, right across the board? We think not.
It therefore will require persistent relentless pressure to see to a greater professionalising of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). This pressure must be equally targeted at the political parties where they are reluctant to expose wrongdoing among their members and adherents.
At the same time, there were some stated commitments by the private sector business to work with Jamaicans overseas and locally which, if followed through, should provide practical help in the problems we are facing.
The promise to launch fund-raising drives and to adopt police stations are indeed welcome, important gestures. For to the extent that Jamaicans from all walks of life can be encouraged to buy into the programme, is the extent to which we will all share in the success of reducing crime.
We suspect that the fair-sized crowd and somewhat earlier lukewarm public display of support among the general population to yesterday's protest stemmed from scepticism about its likely practical achievements.
The Emancipation Park Declaration should go a far way to erode the scepticism and boost morale among the crime fighters and citizenry alike
The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) we do believe has tapped into the pulse of the nation's disgust over the country's crime wave. The momentum created by this show of national unity should not be allowed to die.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
