A security barricade in one of Kingston's inner-city communities (Photo: Karl Mclarty)
August 13, 2023
The ugly picture of peace
I recently had reason to go to the juvenile prison located at Metcalfe Street in western Kingston.
As I drove in I noticed the presence of an army camp next door. I ventured further into the western Kingston community and saw the ugly barricades and soldiers and police officers in operational gear. It struck me how unsightly the concrete barricades looked and how much the entire community look like an occupied territory in Northern Cyprus that I had once visited.
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I then drove through downtown to go back to Portmore, St Catherine, and observed the communities in the central and southern zones that had a similar appearance to the occupied territories of western Kingston. My journey led me to Greenwich Town, where I noticed the same barricades blocking the roads. Different roads, different community, same ugly barriers. So, in essence, I travelled through about four occupied territories.
I know, as do you, that these zones became occupied by the armed forces because of the outbreak of gang warfare in the respective communities. I started to look at the crime reports of these territories. I found the degree of conflict and bloodshed that occurred prior to the imposition of what is, in essence, martial law quite disturbing.
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I then looked at the present and recent history and noticed that there had been killings and violence since the troops had been there, but there have been murders uptown where I live as well.
What is unquestionable is that the environment is significantly more peaceful than it was before the occupation. What is most important is that I saw communities — inner-city communities — that were not under the control of gangs. This cemented my belief that the only tool that truly removes the power from the gangster is an occupational armed presence; in effect — peace keepers.
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Remand acts, gun control laws, and the removal of bail as a right are all useful tools to destroy the gangs. However, only men with rifles can take control away from men with rifles. It’s that simple. I know this and the system knows this. The reason it’s not done is that occupation requires numbers and the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) do not have the capacity to provide a peacekeeping force. I see where they have done what I suggested and have started to allow JCF members to work up to 60 hours per week. This will dramatically improve the aforementioned capacity. However, it will not be enough to provide peacekeepers to every garrison that gangs control, and that is what is required. We cannot accept gang control in any section of Jamaica, irrespective of the economic or social designation of that community.
So at this point I again call for the establishment of a JCF reserve that mirrors the JDF reserve and allows for persons engaged in other employment to become police officers. I don’t mean “home guards” or some designation that gives civilians powers of detention. That is not a mirror of the JDF reserve. There is no policy that differentiates a reserve soldier in levels of authority or powers from a regular member of the JDF.
We actually had two reserve forces before in the Jamaican police environment. Those were the Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF) and the Rural Police Force, ie the district constables. Well, we merged the ISCF with the JCF and we turned the Rural Police into a full-time force. Hence, there’s no auxiliary.
Auxiliary police officers are a standard in most countries, as are reserve soldiers. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, there are skill sets that are required for which a police force can’t afford to pay full-time pay. There are also issues regarding the cost of employing someone full-time versus the cost of part-time remuneration.
Most importantly, we can’t afford to pay the tens of thousands of officers we will need to put in a peacekeeping force. However, we could likely afford part-time payment to the thousands of willing, as they are not reliant on that income to survive. I would prefer that they are eager persons who wish to be police officers and are willing to make time to be trained. Failing that I would have no problem with a draft that forces firearm permit holders to be subject to a call-up to bear arms for their country. This would be better than the system we now have that virtually prohibits the employment of part-time workers to serve in the police force.
Why do I feel so strongly about this topic? Because every Jamaican has the right to be free from criminal control. It’s not okay for a middle-class community in Portmore to be free of gang control, but 100 metres away in a squatter settlement the Klansman Gang rules, despite the police division’s greatest efforts. I understand that this is not this police force’s, the Government’s, or the generation’s fault. This began in the 1970s. My generation, however, has not taken the steps — as men should have — to do something about it.
There were and are functional systems that are introduced into countries after an armed conflict. In Japan after World War II there were occupation and structured reform. In Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975 there were re-education camps. I can go on and on.
In Jamaica after the civil war of 1974 to 1980, we did nothing that really differed from traditional police practices. Why? Was it because we were ashamed of ourselves or because we were willing to allow gang control of inner cities for political expediency? Maybe it was just because there are two types of Jamaicans. There are the paupers who live in inner cities and informal settlements and the rest of us, rich or poor, who don’t. As long as the problem of gang control is limited to this smaller group of people it is never going to be truly addressed. At least, not until it moves uptown.
This occupation that I desire must have a human rights component. It must be accommodated during the peace-keeping process. This means the observers will have to put down the coffee pot, leave the verandah, and join us on a gully bank. Come and see the true impact of the poor’s victimisation daily, like we do. Just ensure that you recognise that it is the predator among them who is the enemy, and not them. This must not be a contingent that is there to abuse these forgotten voters, but rather to protect them.
So, to summarise, what I am suggesting is a massive increase of the police force through the introduction of an auxiliary. The auxiliary officer can be no less or more in any way than any other member of the police force. This expanded force would allow the Government to provide occupational police officers and soldiers to the gang-controlled zones. The persons to be recruited should be drawn from the list of firearm holders, as it would save training time because they are already competent. They would still need training, but less.
Thousands are willing to become police officers. We don’t have to draft them. Nor do we have to accept everyone who applies. This occupation will, unfortunately, take a generation. During this time culture will change. There will be no don to emulate.
Just as the fanatical Japanese changed during the occupation of their country between 1945 and 1952, so will the slums here. General Douglas MacArthur used a scientific system of control, re-education, and improvement to change the mindset of the Japanese.
Political manipulation of the violent elements in these communities must also end. This must be done to end the gang control of any Jamaican citizen in any Jamaican community. Anything else will give you marginal improvements at best. It may reduce the murder rate and gun crime, but will not remove the control from the gangs. Their control must end, whether it be Newland or Norbrook.
