Having watched several games of the Indian Premier League and the post-match presentation, I became curious as to what the ‘Nayi Soch’ Award was about. Interestingly, in translating the term on Google from Hindi, it means ‘new thinking’. In amazement I thought how revolutionary such an award would be in our society.

As a country, our biggest problem is arguably crime and violence. What if our leaders challenged the status quo, as is needed? There is no doubt as to how deservedly they would receive such an award. But, alas, we’re here faced with this putrid problem, the stench of which is stifling our growth.

Currently, the tactics have been to employ zones of special operations (ZOSO) and states of emergency (SOE). Their effectiveness, however, in the whole scheme of things, is questionable. And, while I was one of the first to welcome these strategies, understanding the importance of joint police-military ‘lockdown’ operations, their overuse and now abuse is undermining effectiveness.

These are not solutions and should only be used in short pulses. I fully support the calls from several persons to not extend these operations; however, my reasons may be different.

My reasons are:

1. Familiarity breeds contempt: Our military is our first line of defence from external threats, but should be the last line of defence from internal threats. The police force need to step up and live up to their role and expectations. We cannot afford for the military to have its respect and commanding presence diluted.

2. The cost of ZOSOs and SOEs compared to the value gained from them is too unbalanced, as the overall reduction in crime has not been realised to justify their uses. It is therefore neither effective nor cost-effective.

I understand that the people at the helm are not able to — or should not — publicise their crime plan; however, whatever strategies they have up their sleeves need to be implemented and their effects seen and felt — the main effects being a return of law and order and a lasting reduction in crimes.

It is easy to criticise and tear down what is already in place, but providing solutions is rather difficult. That is part of the human nature of being negative. That, too, needs to be challenged. I am doing so by providing suggestions which hopefully can be a part of the difference. I am no criminologist, neither do I have any training in policing; however I am optimistic for a better Jamaica. The police force does not have to reinvent the wheel, neither does it need to have cutting edge technology or innovations to cut crime and restore order.

The example of strategies used by William “Bill” Bratton to nearly half all crimes in New York in the 1990s can be employed. Using a principle from geometry, objects with sufficient similarities can be scaled or translated. Looking at New York, prior to Bratton, it was described as being in a state of anarchy — murder levels were at record high and this was deemed impregnable to police intervention. At the same time, the police force was seen as corrupt, morale of the officers was low, there were problems with wages, and equipment were needed for cops to perform their duties. There are sufficient similarities between then New York and current Jamaica for the effective solutions used then to be scaled to have effect in our population.

Bratton as commissioner used two main tactics. He shifted the paradigm of policing from using the ‘three Rs’ — reactive policing, random patrols and reactive investigation — to the ‘three Ps’ — partnership, problem-solving and prevention. This was bounded on the Broken Windows Theory of crime, which says that disorders, if uncorrected, lead to crime. These disorders included loitering, soliciting and aggressive begging, windscreen wipers, etc. Secondly, he employed COMPSTAT (short for compare statistics) and a process of frequent meetings to analyse and share information which led to accountability and effective use of tactics which, despite limited resources, produced marked success. These strategies have been used with similar successes in other states and indeed countries.

It is full time now for the Jamaica Constabulary Force to be a profitable (crime-reducing) organisation and to put the competition (criminals) out of business.

gusty_mol@yahoo.com