THE MURDERS of five members of one family in St. Thomas on the weekend were particularly dastardly, even for a country which has seen so many as to leave most of us numb with anger, fear and outrage. The bestial tendencies that would make anybody slaughter persons, including three children in three different locations over several hours, are indescribable.
This is not a crime of passion; it points to a cold-hearted, deliberate, vicious act. The instinct that would drive someone to order or carry out this kind of action cannot, however, be controlled by any legislation proscribing murder. They are beyond reason and humanity.
The police suggest that the slaughter may be linked to the illegal drug trade. Whether it is or not, this case requires them to work overtime to bring the killers to justice. It also underscores the need for the security forces to work to be on top of the drug trade as it spreads its tentacles throughout the country. Many small, rural communities have been polluted by the trade, in the process leaving many innocents vulnerable to these vicious murderers.
Many studies have been done suggesting various ways of curtailing crime. But there are some acts that cannot be planned for or even contemplated. It then remains for the security forces to find the perpetrators and for the justice system to deal with them appropriately, including the administering of the country's laws on murder.
This is one issue which the newly-elected president of the People's National Party and the presumptive Prime Minister-designate, Portia Simpson Miller, will have to take a keen look at and address urgently. While she has been part of a Cabinet that has examined and studied the problem extensively, there are some issues which the country expects her to deal with seriously, urgently and firmly. No Government can, in general, prevent murders, but they can make the climate in which the criminals operate that much more difficult. More importantly, that can bring some sense of assurance to the society that murderers will be caught and dispatched forthwith in accordance with due legal process and the laws of the land. We have no time to waste.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
