|
IT WAS an absolutely horrible spectacle. And it was a jarring first for me.
Last Thursday, I happened to be on Knutsford Boulevard early in the morning only to find a number of heavily armed policemen and their cars, yellow tape and some passers-by. And the horror the body of a dead man lying in the exit portion of the gateway I was about to enter.
This was just one day after the incredible carnage that erupted at the now infamous Devon Road location that left five people dead including policemen and criminal gunmen.
As I walked past the body at the gate and considered the shooting spree of the day before, I began to appreciate more deeply the concerns of many who believe that the corrupt, the criminals and their agents of death the ruthless and heartless gunmen do what they want with impunity in our country.
A corroding tolerance, driven by fear, seems to have taken hold of our souls, our hearts and our will.
How did we as individuals reach the point where we are so fearful that we cannot think and act collectively for our individual and collective protection and good?
How did we as individuals and as a society get to the place where a sort of moral and spiritual ennui has sapped our strength to act decisively against the criminals and gunmen who would seek to snuff out our lives and those of our fellow citizens?
We have somehow conveyed to the criminal community that they can murder ordinary citizens and policemen at will. This is wrong.
BUSINESSMEN: RELATIVISM AND CORRUPTION
I start with the fraternity to which I belong, business people. Too many of us evade (avoid is legal) paying our taxes and import duties and, thereby rob the government of revenues, yet collude with criminals and pay them corruption money.
Those who do not believe in this manner can ignore the comment. Too many of us are completely unwilling to deal with the issues of right and wrong and make it clear by our behaviour that we believe that some things are right and others are wrong and that we will choose to do what is right. We have allowed the progressive disintegration of our society.
Too many business people hand over money to politicians for campaigns without demanding that the recipients of those funds practise their profession with integrity, honesty and clean hands in exchange for financial support.
Giving the money for political support involves making a choice and, instead of making courageous choices for what is right, many members of the business fraternity engage instead in an amoral (at best) relativism and make choices that are opportunistic and compromised.
People of economic influence and power are much too tolerant of Jamaican politicians (on both sides of the political aisle) who fraternise with and even 'hug up' people who have known connections with criminals in the underworld and their agents of death.
SET HIGHER STANDARD
And politicians should not hide behind the fact that certain known criminals have not been convicted by any court.
Political leaders in Jamaica must set a higher standard, with a moral tripwire much lower than legal conviction, for their associates especially when the mayhem and destruction caused by some of these associates are so well-known to everyone else.
The police will deal with evidence, but citizens (including politicians) need to help them with factual information.
POLITICIANS: YOU'RE OBLIGED
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Mark Shields, said a number of important things in various interviews during the past two weeks. Two stand out in my mind. First, he said that members of parliament (that means from both parties!) have an obligation to report known criminals and lawbreakers to the police. It is a reflection of how far we have fallen as a people that this suggestion has to be made at all and that it sounds so novel. Politicians, party supporters, members of the business fraternity, journalists and all citizens and residents of Jamaica, take note.
Mr. Shields, the DCP in charge of crime, also took a very measured approach to finding the killers of the policemen in last week's rampage. He was careful, and right, to insist that our security forces follow the law in finding these killers. But following the law cannot mean that we wait forever to take action, or end up taking no action at all. I have never met DCP Shields, but considering his background, I am sure he would be familiar with Henry V's speech at Harfleur. This speech comes to mind because of a comment by a member of the Police Federation after the three policemen were shot and killed that the criminals had "declared war" on the police. Henry V's "Once more on to the breach, dear friends, once more..." is a reminder that the law gives us enough room to act once war is declared.
CRIME - HIGH ECONOMIC PRICE
Crime, in all its forms - petty thievery, extortion, corruption in practically all places, brutal and senseless killing without any fear of the law, and collusion with criminals by those in our society who should be upholding the law - exact a very high economic price on individuals and Jamaican society at large. Crime erodes productivity.
Our corroding tolerance has led to corroding collusion and corroding corruption. And death.
We need, collectively, to combat the numbing fear that a relatively few criminals have put in our hearts, as well as discard the insidious relativism that has eaten away at our national soul and our individual lives. We must believe as the historian Paul Johnson has written that "there are no inevitabilities in history". We must work with people like DCP Mark Shields and Commissioner Lucius Thomas, their detectives and other member of security forces to take back our country from criminals who seek to spread mayhem and the destruction of our democratic society.
Source: Jamaica
Gleaner
<< Back to
Management Thoughts |
