Banks cannot remain mute while customers are robbed

Dennie Quill, Contributor

An email warning is circulating about a motorcycle gang that has been targeting persons who withdraw large sums of money from commercial banks in various parts of the capital. Please note that this warning is not from the police and did not emanate from the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN). Frankly, instead of issuing clichéd releases each day about murder and mayhem, the CCN would serve a more useful purpose by disseminating the kind of information that would lead people to make better choices to protect life and property.

But back to this email. It details the modus operandi of the helmet-clad motorcycle gang that has virtually zoned out the Corporate Area. One group controls downtown Kingston, another is in charge of Manor Park/Constant Spring and the third group operates in New Kingston and Liguanea.

Scout out customers

They scout out customers in the bank, they communicate with cronies on the outside via cellphone and the target is trailed and attacked at the opportune time. There are times when the loot is transferred to accomplices travelling in motor vehicles, just in case the police are alerted.

According to the email, a vast sum of $40 million has got into the hands of these criminals between November 2009 and April of this year. Some security guards, particularly those who oversee parking lots, are suspected of being in collusion with the robbers.

I cannot vouch for the authenticity of this email, however, I do know three persons who made withdrawals from banks and were held up and robbed by men on motorcycles in recent times.

I have watched enough detective stories on television to conclude that given the body of information contained in this email, the police and the banks working together could swiftly smash this ring and make banking safer for their customers. If, as the email suggests, the gang has been operating since November last year, why have the police failed to act decisively against these criminals?

What have the police done? They have apparently asked banks to warn customers about carrying around large sums of money. Is this really the best that the police can do? Is there no imagination within their ranks to set up sting operations and nab these criminals? Is it incompetence on the part of the police or is it indifference?

Lack of decisive action

This lack of decisive action offers little hope that these robbers will be stopped anytime soon. Instead, our criminals have become more brazen and more brutal. One is left to wonder whether the Jamaica Constabulary Force simply does not have the capability to devise and execute strategies to reduce crime or whether they really have no interest in making Jamaica safer for its citizens.

The banks cannot remain mute in all of this. They also have a huge responsibility and ought to be making robust efforts to confront this problem that is causing nervousness among their clientele. It seems they should review their security personnel and rotate them regularly to erase the perception that some of them are abetting the criminals. If the police won't do it, the Jamaica Bankers Association may need to start thinking about engaging a nimble force with the ability to apprehend these criminals.

But this ought not to be the case. The government cannot escape the imperative to rebuild a full-strength professional police force.

Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com