Statistics don’t identify and treat source of crime, violence – Gregory
Published:Monday | April 8, 2024 | 12:06 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
ANGLICAN BISHOP of Jamaica Dr Howard Gregory says the mere reduction of crime statistically will not address the longstanding problem of criminality that has plagued the nation for decades.
Speaking at last week’s official opening of the 153rd annual Synod of senior officials of the Anglican Church, the clergyman said data differs from the realities being faced by the Jamaican people.
“Let me suggest that we are fooling ourselves that the problem before us is just one of lowering statistics,” Gregory said. “We refuse to ask what it is about the life of our nation that is leading so many to a life of crime, and the devaluation of human life, which makes the taking of the life of another an easy option and a source of income for contract killers.”
Gregory, who is also the Archbishop of the West Indies Primate and metropolitan Bishop of Jamaica and The Cayman Islands, argued that a significant number of citizens have complained that they are not benefiting from the economic prosperity of the country.
This, he argued, has come about because successive governments have not in any significant way addressed the source of the problem that gives rise to crime and violence.
“It would do us well to ponder what is the response of youth to the social experience,” he said. “Are they going to sit around and wait for the crumbs to trickle down to them? What has given rise to the scamming, the extortion and gang affiliation and activities?” Gregory quizzed. “Perhaps we are just playing with the end result without addressing the source of the problem.”
The 153rd annual Synod was held at the Parish Church of St James in Montego Bay, St James, under the theme ‘Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: Celebrating Service, Guarding Justice, Affirming Hope’.