Dennie Quill, Contributor

These days, the news has a predictable pattern: a murder is reported; we see shocked, crying relatives; we hear the anguish of traumatised victims and mournful family members. We sympathise from the comfort of our living rooms and move on to the next victim who could be from Clarendon, St. Mary, Westmoreland or St. Catherine. The victim could be raped and killed, slaughtered in his bed, knifed at school, held up in a public bathroom, slain while doing business at the bank, randomly hit - just about any scenario is possible.

Guns of all sorts, shapes and sizes are being paraded before our eyes in the media to indicate the variety of the arsenal which is in the hands of criminals. Just two nights ago a spanking new high calibre weapon with a price tag of US$7,000 was found in St. James. It is a fact that many criminals would kill with knives, stones or their bare hands.

Illegal guns

However, access to guns makes it all too easy. So the number-one problem facing law enforcement is how to remove the estimated 1200 or so illegal guns that are circulating in the criminal world. I recall that former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller named a squad which was charged specifically with getting the guns. I have not seen any reports to indicate how successful they have been in their efforts. The scale of the problem urgently demands new initiatives.

No longer is criminal activity concentrated in tough inner-city neighbourhoods which we all try to avoid. Marauding criminals have fanned out into once rural idyll with such ferocity that has stirred public alarm.

The JLP must take its responsibility seriously to ensure the safety of its citizens, and right now the security threat is the issue that has prompted the most national angst. I believe a multi-pronged approach has to be taken to reduce the soaring crime rate and I have a few suggestions.

First, any strategy to decrease gun violence must include firearm tracking. How do these young men get their hands on such expensive high-power weaponry? Who is responsible for importing these guns and ammunition? Are these importers so smart that they are able to evade customs and bypass the police? Are contraband items being brought into the country via our unpatrolled coastline? Is there collusion between these agencies and the importers? Is the intelligence-gathering capability of the police so poor that they have no clue who might be involved in these activities? These are all questions which the security forces should be grappling with at this time.

Clamp down on criminals

Second, the Government must get tougher on criminals using firearms by introducing legislation to deny bail to persons accused of crimes involving the gun. The punishment should be doubled if a firearm is used in a crime.

Another component could include using the confiscated funds of drug dealers to revitalise inner-city areas and establish trade training centres for idle youth. This may call for negotiations with the U.S. government to share some of the ill-gotten gains of extradited Jamaican kingpins.

Then there has to be a better relationship between the police and the community. I truly believe that the use of electronic stun guns which paralyses the victim, but not kill him, ought to be used in street confrontations between police and citizens. This is usually the situation that leads to a souring of the relationship between the police and community members.

In the ongoing debate that takes place daily many are calling for extreme measures such as shooting on sight, death squads, vigilantes, lashings and house-to-house searches.

It is time for Mr. Smith to come to the country with a set of initiatives that will at least give us some hope. That is all we want for Christmas, minister.