The Editor, Sir:

As we start a new year, tantamount on the minds of most well- thinking Jamaicans is how we should be assisting the law-abiding police officers to make their communities safer and, in so doing, slaying the vicious crime monster.

As the current Deputy Commissioner of Crime, Mark Shields, has repeatedly suggested since his arrival a few years ago, the only real solution must lie in intelligence-led policing with communities telling what they know about crime in their areas and thereby cooperating with the police in their efforts.

As we know, the biggest obstacle to this is our Jamaican 'informa fi dead' mentality which I feel we should try and replace with an "informa fi rich" mentality!

With so many private sector companies making big bucks and giving upwards of $70 million to football programmes, have the Government and private sector companies ever thought how important a tool in the fight against crime it would be if giving information about serious crimes was really 'big money' business?

Restoring law

It is sad that playing their part in the restoring of law and order is not motivation enough for the majority of my fellow Jamaicans but, in light of that reality, I would start offering rewards of upwards of one million dollars for any information leading to the apprehension and arrest of murderers, as well as for the recovery of illegal firearms.

For men wanted for multiple murders or the murder of children and police officers, I would have that reward start at, perhaps, $10 million! Added to that, lesser offences could also attract rewards as it is a well-known fact that 'major' criminals are often apprehended for so-called 'minor' crimes.

Aside from fear, it is said that communities remain silent due to spoils that they receive from these criminals. What about competing with them in this regard and making it far more profitable to speak about crime than to remain silent?

I propose that the Government immediately make all such donations to a fund such as Crime Stop tax-deductible, if that is not already the case, along with matching dollar for dollar any such donation with immediate effect. In a country where both individuals and corporate entities are making millions and indeed billions, it is not unrealistic to hope to see upwards of one billion dollars in such a fund at which point BIG money can be paid out to informants.

I am, etc.,

MIKE SMALL

smalltalkja@yahoo.com