From my archive of press clippings:
Jamaica Gleaner
Security and human rights
published: Sunday June 22, 2008
File
These men from Tivoli Gardens are forced to lie in a marl pit during an operation by the security forces in the west Kingston community in 2005.
Don Robotham, Contributor
Jamaica is at a crossroads. In the month of May the murder rate increased by about 100 per cent. This is an unprecedented rate of increase. If this continues unabated an already murderous society will come close to the point of collapse.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"It takes about a year to prepare a legally viable case against persons charged for murder and other offences under the law.
After this considerable period has elapsed and the case eventually comes to trial, convictions cannot be secured.
The reason is that the witnesses collapse."
Showing posts with label crime rate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crime rate. Show all posts
Friday, March 6, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
JO -Law-abiding citizens want guns
From my archive of press clippings:
Jamaica Observer
Law-abiding citizens want guns
Wignall's World
Mark Wignall
Sunday, July 20, 2008
In the mid-1970s when Jamaica was number 10 on the list of the most murderous countries in the world, it used to be said of persons who were shot dead by gunmen that they 'were at the wrong place at the wrong time'. Then the 'terrorist gunman' with his high-powered rifle was introduced by the politics of the times and just as 1980 was ushered in, it seemed that all hell had broken loose.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"In the election campaign of that year there were certain areas like Olympic Gardens and most of the Kingston West Police Division (Arnett Gardens, Matthews Lane, Fletchers Land, Denham Town, Jones Town, Tivoli Gardens) that were off limits to all sensible people.
If you were in any political garrison that you did not belong to after 6:00 pm or were travelling across political boundaries, your chances of being shot dead were increased significantly.
If you lived in any of those areas, you would be fodder for the political marauders as they carried out their murderous raids in the hours before daybreak.
When they came, men, women, children and the dogs were all fair targets."
"While most who left in the times prior to the 1960s and on the cusp of Independence did so because Jamaica was seen as having nothing to offer them economically, many of those who travelled to foreign shores in the 1970s and after named security concerns as one of the main reasons for leaving their homeland.
In 2008 those personal and national security concerns are very much a part of our daily diet.
We live, sleep and eat the fear that if the high prices don't get us, the gunman will."
"At present only business persons who have applied for and met the stringent requirements are in possession of legally held firearms.
Elected politicians travel with security details while we who supported them and voted for them in the hope of us building a better and safer Jamaica are forced to face the criminal gunman empty-handed."
&
"The criminal gunman knows that no witnesses will come forward, so he has about a 90% chance of making it to the next killing.
In this scenario the state has failed to protect us, continues to fail us and when our elected officials speak, it is mainly to sell us another fairy tale about our safety.
I say to the state, give us guns to protect ourselves because the mechanisms which exist to do so are patently not working."
Jamaica Observer
Law-abiding citizens want guns
Wignall's World
Mark Wignall
Sunday, July 20, 2008
In the mid-1970s when Jamaica was number 10 on the list of the most murderous countries in the world, it used to be said of persons who were shot dead by gunmen that they 'were at the wrong place at the wrong time'. Then the 'terrorist gunman' with his high-powered rifle was introduced by the politics of the times and just as 1980 was ushered in, it seemed that all hell had broken loose.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"In the election campaign of that year there were certain areas like Olympic Gardens and most of the Kingston West Police Division (Arnett Gardens, Matthews Lane, Fletchers Land, Denham Town, Jones Town, Tivoli Gardens) that were off limits to all sensible people.
If you were in any political garrison that you did not belong to after 6:00 pm or were travelling across political boundaries, your chances of being shot dead were increased significantly.
If you lived in any of those areas, you would be fodder for the political marauders as they carried out their murderous raids in the hours before daybreak.
When they came, men, women, children and the dogs were all fair targets."
"While most who left in the times prior to the 1960s and on the cusp of Independence did so because Jamaica was seen as having nothing to offer them economically, many of those who travelled to foreign shores in the 1970s and after named security concerns as one of the main reasons for leaving their homeland.
In 2008 those personal and national security concerns are very much a part of our daily diet.
We live, sleep and eat the fear that if the high prices don't get us, the gunman will."
"At present only business persons who have applied for and met the stringent requirements are in possession of legally held firearms.
Elected politicians travel with security details while we who supported them and voted for them in the hope of us building a better and safer Jamaica are forced to face the criminal gunman empty-handed."
&
"The criminal gunman knows that no witnesses will come forward, so he has about a 90% chance of making it to the next killing.
In this scenario the state has failed to protect us, continues to fail us and when our elected officials speak, it is mainly to sell us another fairy tale about our safety.
I say to the state, give us guns to protect ourselves because the mechanisms which exist to do so are patently not working."
Saturday, February 7, 2009
JG - Jamaicans causing havoc in Saint Maarten
Jamaica Gleaner
Jamaicans causing havoc in Saint Maarten
Published: Sunday February 1, 2009
Leighton Levy, Gleaner Writer
Keswick Daley being taken into custody by police in Saint Maarten recently. He was on the run for almost a month following his escape from police custody on December 24 last year. He had been wanted in connection with a series of armed robberies on the island. - File
WITH THEIR nationality being tarnished by a violent few in recent times, law-abiding, hard-working Jamaicans on the island of Saint Maarten are finding it harder to get some jobs on that island. Others fear they are being unfairly targeted by police brought in to help curb the island's growing crime problem, The Sunday Gleaner has been told, despite comments to the contrary from minister of justice for the Netherlands Antilles, David Dick.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"Since last year, the tiny Dutch colony, with a population of about 60,000, has been hit by a series of armed robberies. Many of these are believed to have been committed by illegal immigrants living on the island, many of them Jamaican."
Jamaicans causing havoc in Saint Maarten
Published: Sunday February 1, 2009
Leighton Levy, Gleaner Writer
Keswick Daley being taken into custody by police in Saint Maarten recently. He was on the run for almost a month following his escape from police custody on December 24 last year. He had been wanted in connection with a series of armed robberies on the island. - File
WITH THEIR nationality being tarnished by a violent few in recent times, law-abiding, hard-working Jamaicans on the island of Saint Maarten are finding it harder to get some jobs on that island. Others fear they are being unfairly targeted by police brought in to help curb the island's growing crime problem, The Sunday Gleaner has been told, despite comments to the contrary from minister of justice for the Netherlands Antilles, David Dick.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"Since last year, the tiny Dutch colony, with a population of about 60,000, has been hit by a series of armed robberies. Many of these are believed to have been committed by illegal immigrants living on the island, many of them Jamaican."
Friday, January 16, 2009
JO - Make it easier for us to get guns
From my archive of press clippings:
Jamaica Observer
Make it easier for us to get guns
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Dear Editor,
I would like to urge the relevant authorities and policymakers to make it easier for ordinary citizens to get guns. All the hurdles should be cut out and the firearm application process expedited for the thousands of Jamaicans who apply annually.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"Applicants should not be discriminated against based on the area in which they live. Some people can afford to live in gated communities, with so-called "grills" on their homes, and afford the luxury of armed security response service and possibly even bodyguards. Most of us cannot.
Poor, unarmed people - the main targets of armed marauders - are the ones who especially need protection against the few hundred violent murderers.
When vicious men kick down our doors at night and enter our homes to rape the women and then kill everybody inside, including children and babies, don't we Jamaicans deserve to have in our possession a means to fight back?
We have tried begging them to spare our lives, and our murder rate tells us how much the begging has helped."
Jamaica Observer
Make it easier for us to get guns
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Dear Editor,
I would like to urge the relevant authorities and policymakers to make it easier for ordinary citizens to get guns. All the hurdles should be cut out and the firearm application process expedited for the thousands of Jamaicans who apply annually.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"Applicants should not be discriminated against based on the area in which they live. Some people can afford to live in gated communities, with so-called "grills" on their homes, and afford the luxury of armed security response service and possibly even bodyguards. Most of us cannot.
Poor, unarmed people - the main targets of armed marauders - are the ones who especially need protection against the few hundred violent murderers.
When vicious men kick down our doors at night and enter our homes to rape the women and then kill everybody inside, including children and babies, don't we Jamaicans deserve to have in our possession a means to fight back?
We have tried begging them to spare our lives, and our murder rate tells us how much the begging has helped."
Sunday, January 4, 2009
JO - Self-protection
From my archive of press clippings:
Jamaica Observer
Self-protection
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Dear Editor,
Everyone has a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This right is of no use when you can be murdered in the blink of an eye.
I was not an advocate of issuing guns to citizens because of fear this would lead to more killings. But after careful consideration, I realise that we have no choice. Things can't get any worse than they already are. With careful monitoring we should be able to issue guns to responsible members of society to protect themselves. This might well help to curb the crime rate.
Norman Edmonson
bigupja2@hotmail.com
Jamaica Observer
Self-protection
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Dear Editor,
Everyone has a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This right is of no use when you can be murdered in the blink of an eye.
I was not an advocate of issuing guns to citizens because of fear this would lead to more killings. But after careful consideration, I realise that we have no choice. Things can't get any worse than they already are. With careful monitoring we should be able to issue guns to responsible members of society to protect themselves. This might well help to curb the crime rate.
Norman Edmonson
bigupja2@hotmail.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
