Most Jamaicans readily connect with Prime Minister Andrew Holness’s distress in relation to violent crime.

In fact, such is the associated pain and trauma going back decades — much further than the great majority of Jamaicans can remember — that there are those who avoid newspapers and electronic newscasts because they no longer want to know.

Sadly, many have grown cold, numb even, in the face of such horrors as the killing of a 10-year-old in central Kingston and of two brothers in Westmoreland — so emotionally lamented by the prime minister.

Mr Holness tells us he goes to bed “with these things on my conscience every night” and that he knows he has “tried”.

But, says he: “It’s a minefield, because every turn you make there is someone trying to stop it, and I am left to wonder, are they in support of the criminals of the country? The 10-year-old didn’t have to die. We had an SOE [state of emergency] down there [Westmoreland].”

That reference to SOE signals part of the problem, we believe. It seems to us that the Government has become too dependent on blunt-force measures. While we agree and have said that extreme enforcement strategies such as states of emergency are useful in the short term, it seems obvious that those are not long-term solutions.

Indeed, it remains open to question whether states of emergency, as have been implemented as crime-fighting measures in recent years, are even constitutional, given Jamaica’s Charter of Rights.

Beyond that, the history of modern Jamaica has shown that heavy-handed methodologies, such as the discredited Suppression of Crime Act of the 1970s, do not work; and over time may even undermine the investigative and people-relationship capacity of the constabulary.

What has not been tried is what this newspaper and many other stakeholders and individuals have been urging. We speak of a long-term, comprehensive, bipartisan approach to fighting crime which should involve strict, lawful, targeted enforcement using all legal tools available, including cutting-edge technology, alongside the mobilisation of everyone in their communities to turn their face against criminals.

Getting the results we crave won’t come easy. Jamaicans should recognise that violent crime didn’t start yesterday and it won’t end tomorrow.

Jamaica needs behaviour change. This can only come with what former Prime Minister Bruce Golding recently referred to as “socialisation”, especially for children and young people — many of whom are now without positive parental support and guidance.

As we keep saying, and many others have said, an important beginning is political consensus on the correct approach. When it comes to crime, our two major political parties, in Government and in Opposition, should put aside the thought that winning the next election is the most important thing.

Our political leaders, representatives, and aspirants should move together as one to convince everyone, even those in the poorest, most depressed communities, that the State should be their rock to lean on, not criminals.

Are we being naïve? Many will think so. But we believe that if our political leaders can achieve that much-spoken-about consensus, it will become many times easier to build an alliance across all sectors and communities — an alliance so powerful, that evildoers will be left with nowhere to turn.