Police Not Effective

In the front page article in the daily Gleaner today entitled "Gun Licence requests triple" I see them quoting some crime statistics that are as bogus as they come.

This country owes a debt of gratitude to former commissioner Ellington, under whose watch murder was reduced by almost a quarter although we are no where close to what he civilised world lives with.

However, I do not think the police has been acculturised to pay any attention to other forms of crime (although one gets the impression  that only minimal attention is paid to murder anyway) and instead of devising measures to deal with these, they produce statistics like robberies being at 1311, which have no bearing on reality. I say this as I know for a fact, that police do not investigate, visit the scene or record some robberies (praedial larceny too!) reported to them  although I do not know to what extent this is so or if it is a mater of policy.

 

Take Kingston and St. Andrew, where there is a new and growing form of gun robbery being carried out in residential neighbourhoods with such precision, that a policeman told a recent victim that he thinks the gang that perpetuates it, have people with either military or police training. 

This is daylight robbery being carried out by well dressed young men  (who seem to operate in pairs but have a vehicle and driver close by) who are appearing to be  going about their lawful business in residential areas. As they do not appear threatening, no one pays much attention to them until they pounce on unwary residents and force them at gunpoint into their homes which they then pillage at their leisure, loading the loot into the waiting vehicle.

A  friend who was  the victim to such a robbery recently, told me that his quick response security personnel told him that they had received  as much as 5 such reports of this type of operation in one day recently. Another private security person told me that in one day they had received 21 calls from clients on that morning alone, although these calls were about different different types of crimes, not just the ambushes. 

So if this type of robbery is so pervasive why has the police not been putting out composite images of the young men who are carrying out these ambushes in broad daylight all over town and who do not use disguise?

I tell you why, it is because the police have no interest in solving robberies committed against ordinary citizens!) preferring instead to to put out bogus statistics thus causing people to be even less vigilant as they go about their lawful business while the hold up men have  a field day and their victims suffer grave psychological trauma in silence for months on end.

Then there are the criminals who seem to  work for some cash for gold operators. 

I wonder what percentage of persons who used to enjoy open air exercising on the streets of the city can say they have not been robbed of phones and jewellery at gunpoint or know someone who has been ?

-I have no doubt  that the tripling of requests for gun licences that the report in the Gleaner spoke to, has something to do with the grave sense of insecurity that pervades despite the billions we spend on secirtuy.

Robberies on the increase

While the police statistics say robberies are on the decrease, on the ground experience indicates that they have reached crisis level but the police is not recording them, hence they can claim decrease.

I say this without fear of contradiction as over two months ago, my neighbour was ambushed at his gate, tied up and the house ransacked, but not even now has the Half Way Tree police turned up to take a statement, or do any form of investigation, so which statistics would this robbery appear in?

Then on Saturday at noon, a visitor to my home was held up in my yard by two young men using the same   modus operandi  and since then, speaking to friends, I have now heard that at least six person I know,  have had a similar experiences in broad daylight, at the hands of gunmen using the same technique, rushing the victims as they go through their gate ( even an electronic gate in one instance) and forcing them to open their homes so they can take what they want. Further, too regularly for comfort, I am hearing from teenagers how men in the area, ride up on bicycles and rob them at knife point of their smart phones as they walk on the streets.

Robberies going down? The only thing that  is going down is the credibility of the police who seem only able to catch thieves, recover stolen proper and bring the thief to justice quickly WHEN THE VICTIM IS THE FRIEND OF THE MINISTER OF SECURITY!

So why are the rest of us required to pay the salaries of policemen and women WHO ARE QUITE COMFORTABLE DOING NOTHING ( except prepare bogus statistics!) IN THE MIDST OF THIS NEW CRIME WAVE?