Shelly-Ann Thompson, Staff Reporter

Corporal Raymond Wilson chairman of the Police Federation. - File

Corporal Raymond Wilson, chairman of the Police Federation, says politicians should be questioned and be held accountable for any part they may play in the current escalation in crime.

Since the general election on September 3, close to 500 Jamaicans have lost their lives in an unprecedented spate of murders.

Cpl. Wilson told The Gleaner yesterday that the rise in murders may be as a result of the utilisation of weapons brought into communities before the general election.

"We have to question the activity and responsibility of some of our leaders in our communities especially the MPs (Members of Parliament), caretakers, the councillors," said Mr. Wilson yesterday, after a function to honour former Commissioner of Police Lucius Thomas, at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston.

"It is more than a myth that prior to any election there is always a flow of guns, especially into (some) communities and you wonder if you should really consider it as a myth, the fact that shortly after these elections there is usually an extended utilisation of these weapons."

"The question is asked, apart from the few that you might have found at the wharves, how are they (guns) accommodated in terms of being transported to some communities?"

Hold politicians accountable

The weapons being used, according to Corporal Wilson, were valued "more than three of the houses that they (those who use them) live in put together. They are handled by young men, people who can barely buy clothes, who can barely feed themselves and their families."

According to Wilson, "We need to hold our politicians accountable for some of these things because, believe it or not, it is some of their own behaviour in public space that sometimes send the message to some of these people who believe that they can not only disrespect law enforcement officers and the rule of law, but also to the point that they believe they are motivated to point guns at them and shoot them."

The chairman of the Police Federation also called for legislative changes "in the medium term and the longer term to impact the handling of guns."

"What type of punishment for one being found in possession of an illegal weapon compared to a punishment ... when you have actually fired that weapon?" he asked.

Noting that the death penalty was still on the books, he criticised human rights groups for their contribution to its non-implementation.

"We, for some reason in Jamaica, have been daunted by the voices of small interests groups who we believe are not about human security the security of law-abiding citizens and police officers..."

shelly-ann.thompson@gleanerjm.com