State vs Crime: A case for transformation - Pt 2

Kamina Johnson, Contributor

CAN WE trust our security forces to apply appropriate rules of engagement and respect human rights while they challenge the cold and heartless gunmen who unfortunately are sometimes not even adults? This is a tough assessment to make and a tough balance to find in the winding, unfamiliar tracks of some inner-city communities. We must accept how difficult it must be for them, and support them while trying to have them recognise that they will still be held accountable for excessive force.

Am I being unrealistic in saying this must be possible? Is it that you can only realistically correct the crime problem if you willingly suspend your belief in human rights? Is it reasonable to expect a policeman, whether in the dark of night or light of day, having been under heavy fire in a community, to make an accurate assessment that the 16-year-old boy, undergarments fully exposed by his low-slung shorts worn loose enough to conceal a weapon, is in fact a committed math student and not a threat, while the boy beside him, exactly the same in appearance, will pull his gun in the blink of an eye as "mekkin duppy" is his thing? How does he make that choice?

Will a re-education on social values help to make this distinction easier as our young men begin to make a bigger distinction between the latest "Mad style" and being associated with or being perceived as a criminal? Will criminalising "association" with criminals help to make it easier as people are forced to make conscious disassociation? End friendships with neighbours for fear of legal implications? Can we get our young men and women out of a head space that thinks that "badness" is cool, and that the "wikkidess" man is the best role model/provider/potential baby-father? I have no answers to these questions. Some we may forever debate and the answers to others will hopefully become apparent in time.

The call for unity

The current call for unity of all law-abiding Jamaicans cannot only be seen to be a call for political unity. We reduce too much to politics and cede too much of our power as citizens when we do that. The call to unity that I believe is needed is one in which we call on each other as Jamaican citizens to play a part in building this nation.

The recent replaying of the late Michael Manley's 1976 speech about the need for the state of emergency and the similarities to our problems today should have reminded us all that the problems faced by the country then were not fixed by the People's National Party (PNP) in the '70s, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in the '80s, nor the PNP in their recent 18-year administration. That's a lot of cumulative responsibility and there is too much blame to throw around.

Recognising, therefore, that this country's state of affairs has developed over succeeding administrations, we need to acknowledge the enormity of what we are going through now. This government has started to take the first steps in implementing its commitment to working with the opposition, civil society and through the organs of the state, to turn the country around by tackling the monster of crime, including breaking the links between politics and crime. There is more to come - Prime Minister has promised so the people of this country will hold him and the JLP to that promise. The people must also hold the Opposition accountable for corrective action needed on their side, and parliamentary support of the requisite legislative process.

Culture change

We as Jamaicans need to recognise, however, that we are going to have to fundamentally change a culturally embedded phenomenon so there will be no single solution, no single right answer, and no quick fixes. This road will be a hard one and we will need to implement plans with short-, medium- and long-term goals that also make provision for rebuilding of trust and, in some cases, healing.

We as Jamaicans need to recognise that change is disruptive, so we need to be committed to enduring the challenges that may arise rather than politicising them and taking comfortable shortcuts.

If we accept that transformation is not about correcting the past, but about creating a future, we as a people (political directorate and citizens together) need to have a new way of thinking and doing. We must recognise that a part of unity must be that each of us will be aware of our responsibilities to our nation and live in that way. So while Government seeks to deal with corruption in the police force, citizens have to take on the responsibility of using the confidential lines and facilities set up for them - use 1888 CORRUPT and 311 to report corruption or reveal what you know about crimes. They are anonymous and are the best we can do to right now to circumvent corrupt blockages in the system while we work to remove them.

While the Government tries to create opportunities for youth through the Young Entrepreneurial Programme and Career Advancement Programme, our youngsters must be encouraged to try harder to focus in school and to stay clear of the negative influences in their communities.

Focusing on the youth

While the Government seeks to focus on parenting through establishing the new Parenting Commission, our young people need to think more about planning their futures, and we must encourage them where possible to do so. We must encourage our young girls to work hard to be independent and save childbearing for later in life, encourage our young boys to work harder at school and to be responsible fathers who create stable family units rather than thinking that the best they can do is to "sponsah it". So much more needs to be said (and done) on the role played in the cycle of crime and criminality by our approach to childbearing and rearing but, suffice it to say, right now, a complete transformation of this area is needed.

While the private sector and civil society now feel the strength of their cumulative voice, the individuals within these groupings need to ask themselves, "What else can we do?", "Can we do more?", "Are we setting a good enough example?" Indeed, those who do not pay taxes also need to recognise their role in limiting the Government's budget for providing services (about which they complain) and thereby recognise their role in perpetuating the cycle where voids in communities allow "Dons" to create dependencies. The private sector in particular also needs to recognise its role not only as an employer, but as a pool of potential mentors and volunteers, as donors whose corporate social responsibility programmes can tangibly affect the lives of others.

The many ways in which we as a society need to partner and participate in the transformation of our country is seemingly endless, but if you've managed to read this far, I hope you have understood my point. If we all are not in this thing together, Jamaica as one nation under God will not grow and prosper as we know she can.

God bless Jamaica, land we love.

This is the final in a two-part article by government senator Kamina Johnson.