Peter Bunting slams the JLP crime fighting strategy after two years in office (2010) What a Paradox

Reprinted from the Jamaica Gleaner. 11/4/2010

Two years after the JLP was voted into power the then opposition spokesman on National Security tore into the JLP’s crime fighting strategy and ripped it to shreds, here is what Peter Bunting had to say back then.

Two and a half years into its term, an incisive midterm assessment of the Bruce Golding-led government’s performance in the area of national security reveals its absence of direction and resultant malfunctions.

Unequivocally, the Golding administration’s performance in the area of national security can only be described as a colossal failure. Murders have increased from 1,583 in year 2007 to a record 1,680 in year 2009. For the first quarter of 2010 (up to March 28), the murder rate has increased by a shocking 17 per cent relative to the same period in the record year of 2009. It has moved from 338 to 395 for an additional 57 (or about five per week) lives lost this year. Major crimes have increased by 59 per cent over two years, from 7,444 in 2007 to 11,801 in 2009. For the first quarter of 2010, major crimes continue to grow by 5.5 per cent. There has been no coherent or consistent national security policy articulated or pursued by the administration since coming to office, and the high turnover of policy and operational leadership has either contributed to or, at the very least, compounded the problem

He continued.

Where is the National Security Policy?

To the extent that a policy on national security can be discerned from the actions of the Golding administration, it appears to be a continuation of the failed, get-tough-crime-fighting approaches involving the formation and deployment of heavily armed squads of police who have, on numerous occasions, been implicated in gross violations of citizens’ rights.

Up to March 21, police fatal shootings (63) are up by 91 per cent relative to 2009, and the ratio of fatal shootings to arrests have similarly almost doubled, indicating a greater use of lethal force by the police. The proposed anti-crime bills target legislative curtailment of rights, such as prolonged detention through restriction of access to bail rather than strengthening the community policing initiatives.

Commonsenseja comments.

Up to today 12/18/20 13 police fatal shootings is over 200 or  217% above the 63, which Peter Bunting lamented was a major concern for the then opposition PNP. Bunting was also very critical of the ” get tough crime fighting strategy involving heavily armed squads of  police”, but he has continued to use the very same strategy 5 years in 2013.

Peter Bunting the National Security Council has not met in months, where the PNP’s  National Security Policy ?

What the PNP would do differently

The People’s National Party is committed to making Jamaica a safe and just society and our philosophical foundation – the Progressive Agenda – declares that crime control efforts must be disciplined by the rule of law, due process, and respect for individual rights and human dignity. This approach is central to our party’s democratic values; ones we continue to stand for. Of the raft of policy proposals being developed by the PNP, there are three areas the PNP would place its emphasis on.

Commonsenseja comments

Is Jamaica any safer today than in was in 2009, are you feeling any safer.

Bunting continued.

Engendering Trust

This dysfunctional feature of our culture has evolved over a long time and will take some time to turn around. However, it can be reversed. The police force and the political leadership must be in the vanguard of the change process. A paradigm shift must first occur in the emphasis of our policing activity to a focus on the creation of a police culture that will nurture and value a true partnership with the community and building a police leadership that embraces decentralisation of authority and full accountability.

In this new paradigm, community policing will be the core philosophy of the standard operating departments of the police and only a minority of police personnel will be highly trained for a tiered response capability. They would be supported by the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) in these operations. Central to the PNP’s approach would be the understanding that effective crime reduction will only be sustained if it is based on the trust, confidence, and legitimacy of the police force.

Commonsenseja Comments

Do we have a new police culture that has nurtured trust and has created a true partnership between the community and the people. Only today Andrew Holness was in Montego Bay where he was lamenting the fact that the government had abandoned the social  intervention  programs for inner city communities, which has resulted in increases criminal activity among the youths in these areas. Sadly in the two years the PNP have been in power there has been not much work done in community policing, which was one of the strategies Peter indicated would have been pursued by the PNP

Targeting Organised Crime

Because of the difficulty of getting witnesses to testify against organised criminals, technology needs to be employed more effectively in the collection and analysis of evidence (as well as more generally in the management of the police). Available technology can be employed in areas such as collection and analysis of DNA, computerised face identification programmes coupled with increased CCTV surveillance, and patrol vehicles with computers that have instant access to stored data. These are just some areas a PNP government would implement.

We are increasingly aware that Jamaicans of all walks of life are frightened, worried and anxious. Crippling levels of fear, trepidation, insecurity and worry have compound the erosion of the quality of life experienced by the people of Jamaica, given the last two and a half years of this government’s economic policy. Halfway through its term, the Government has had enough time to proffer a national security policy, regulate the administrative issues in the ministry, its agencies and affiliates, raise the morale of the security forces and offer the people of Jamaica some semblance of order. Jamaica demands no less.

Commonsenseja Comments

Where are we in the use of available technology that Peter Bunting said could have been employed namely, DNA analysis, computerised face identification programmes   coupled with increased CCTV surveillance, and patrol vehicles with computers that have instant access to stored data.  These are just “some” of the areas the PNP government would implement ( Peter Bunting own words).

http://jamaica-gleaner.mobi/gleaner/20100411/focus/focus7.php

 

December 19, 2013 ( Real world reality )

 Peter Bunting on one area that the PNP would implement to solve crimes.

Bunting: DNA Legislation Not Panacea For Jamaica’s Crime Problem.

The National Security Minister Peter Bunting is cautioning against expectations that a proposed DNA legislation will automatically yield positive results in crime fighting.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=50041

Well I’ll de dammed .

So you first asked for divine intervention, then you said you have a number of bills that could help to slow down the crime problems, now you are telling us that at least one may not give the results you told we should see once you implemented it when you party was elected.

Well I’ll de dammed.

Peter Bunting has no credibility and should be relieved of the crime portfolio with immediate effect. What I have done here in 15 minutes is to expose the PNP for the lairs they are and the Jamaican media for lack of in-depth analysis and unwillingness to  expose the lies by this PNP administration, in terms of what they promised and what they have failed to deliver thus far.

This post comes two years after the PNP has been in power and is about the same time Peter Bunting waited before launching a bitter attack on the JLP crime fighting strategy. So as you can see I am being fair to the PNP in this regard.

BTW – Derrick Smith is NOT  credible figure to speak on matter of National Security and Holness needs to quietly remove him from this shadow position.

A dat me seh