Garth Rattray | Weedwhacker crime control is ineffective

Despite decades of gang-related and reprisal killings, despite the hundreds of lives lost to ‘senseless violence’ annually, and cumulative tens of thousands of lives brutally extinguished over decades, it took the shock of the octuple murder (a mass killing) and 10 other wounded citizens in serious condition to galvanise the Jamaican state into taking it to the gangs.

The first of its kind shooting took place on Cherry Tree Lane in Clarendon last Sunday night, a little before 9 p.m., close to the car wash and bar where a birthday party was in progress. Scores of defenceless citizens were having fun. Stark horror unfolded when a white Toyota Axio motor car pulled up to where the party was being held; three gunmen jumped out and began firing indiscriminately into the crowd with an assault rifle and handguns. Then, the Axio drove off and stopped at another gathering. There, they opened fire on another group of people, killing two.

The injured and dead included a baby, a young boy, males, females, and the elderly. As a result of the massacre, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, declared a “total assault on gangs” across the island. He promised that “the Government will use this opportunity to deal with the gangs once and for all”.

It took eight unwilling martyrs for the prime minister to admit publicly that Jamaica’s various administrations “played with gangs for far too long”.

He further declared that the mass murder would not be treated as just another criminal act, it was going to be treated like an act of terrorism.

An emergency meeting of the National Security Council was convened at Jamaica House the very next morning. It was there that it was revealed that multiple gangs, including individuals from overseas and some from behind bars were involved in the malicious, reprisal killings. The PM gave the directive for the security forces to launch an “all-out assault on the gangs that are involved.” Then he said, “Operationally, they must go after every single gang…today every gang leader should ‘tek weh dem self’.”

HURT AND EMBARRASSED

Obviously feeling hurt and embarrassed, the PM went on to say, “There is no way that eight persons can be killed in one incident in Jamaica and the State stands as if nothing happened. Every gang member will feel the full force of the State today. This must never happen in Jamaica again. Everyone involved in this incident will be brought to justice – in whatever form the justice is visited upon them.”

Several things bother me. The gangsters will indeed “tek weh dem self” by laying low for a while, until the dust settles and things go back to normal. We have never had sustained intense anti-crime activities. That normalcy includes cooperation from the rogue cops and correctional officers that cravenly line their pockets with blood money while allowing the criminals to do their thing unmolested.

We all know that some cops are regular bribe-takers and so too are several correctional officers; but how many do we ever see get prosecuted and incarcerated for their complicity in propagating criminality? If there is to be a true assault on criminality of any kind, corrupt cops and corrupt correctional officers must be gotten rid of.

Taking it to the gangs is like using a weedwhacker (police and military might) to clean up a garden (our society). There will be a lot of action (security force activity), hubbub (invading poor communities to round up suspects), noise (announcements, reports, and speeches) and praise (effusive, positive narratives) if the garden (our society) looks great. But we all know that the weeds are never destroyed by any weedwhacker. Their leaves and parts of their stems are removed, but the roots remain strong and thriving underground until they push up other stems and leaves ad infinitum. We must uproot the criminal gangs by rendering them redundant. This can only be achieved with major and sustained social intervention.

The weedwhacker is comprised of the majority of the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s 14,000 personnel along with the Jamaica Defence Force’s 5,950 active personnel, and 2,580 reserves. Doing their part to reduce community violence and make gangs redundant is the Jamaica Constabulary Force Community Safety and Security Branch, and our relatively few social intervention activities.

FILL A VOID

Criminal gangs fill a void; they are created and flourish best in communities where there is economic instability, need, poor amenities, poor education, fractured families, violence, disenfranchisement, abandonment by society, and dependency on others for survival. Young men are attracted to gangs by the need for leadership, the need for protection, the need for camaraderie, the need for a family structure, the need to be wanted/needed by a group, and power.

Jamaica needs far more social intervention to restructure forgotten communities. Everyone deserves modern amenities. They deserve guidance on how to adhere to society’s laws, rules and regulations, and to be provided with academic/vocational educational and healthcare access. People within depressed communities must be assisted to become empowered and self-sufficient.

We have a responsibility to every child and every adult citizen to see to their physical and mental wellbeing. Only then will the gangs become redundant, and eventually, obsolete. I pray that the powers that be will remember that weedwhackers are violent, destructive, and only provide temporary relief from the ugliness. Social intervention, like Project STAR (Social Transformation and Renewal) provides a peaceful and permanent investment in our nation.

Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and garthrattray@gmail.com