Crime and Corruption pays handsomely in Jamaica !

Many well thinking Jamaicans are of the belief that there is a absence of knowledge and “know how” in the country to solve our crime/corruption problem, but they are so wrong.

The problem of solving crime in Jamaica is not so much a lack of knowledge but is more an absence of political will on one hand and the handsome reward that awaits you on the other hand.

The truth of the matter is,  criminal activity in Jamaica, including corruption pays handsomely and so there is very little incentive to put systems in place to address the problem.

Let’s review a few examples .

Where are the areas in the public sector where crime/corruption are most prominent.

1. Tax and other GOJ offices
2. Transport Depot for fitness
3. Traffic cops
4. Awarding of government contracts

Why are these areas the most prominent in terms of corruption, which involves mainly bribes ?

• there is the lack  of a proper systems in place to allow for speedy transactions
• a lack of accountability
• lack of transparency in the systems
• Free for all system.
• Lack of clear guidelines and policies
• Lack of enforcement of the guidelines and policies where they do exist.
• Lack of enforcement of the punishment on the books when breaches are detected.
• Political interference.

If by some divine intervention or some flash of magic, crime /corruption was to plummet to unprecedented low levels, what do we believe would be the immediate impact of that.

1. There would be mass unemployment
2. There could be civil unrest
3. Politicians would become weak
4. Lawyers would have to work than much harder and win less cases.
5. Lawyers would see less cases coming their way, which would mean loss of income
6. Cops could see a significant reduction in their income
7. Many public sector workers would not be able to pay their bills .
8. More people could lose their homes and cars.

I know many of you reading this, may say, is Jay supporting corruption by virtue of what he has written above or what on earth wrong wid dis bredda, so before you jump to crucify me, read on.

Item 1 – Mass unemployment.

The security guard business in Jamaica exploded once crime started to rise, which necessitated businesses contracting security firms to provide security to protect their business and workers. Security firms in turn employed many persons to fulfill a need that existed, thus creating a significant growth in this industry. As crime rose, so did the number of security firms and security guards.

Were crime to drop to unprecedented low levels, there would be a massive fallout in the number of security guards required as businesses would not see the need to keep them on, which result in the closure of many firms and the reduction in the number of persons employed in this industry. This would led to an increase in the unemployment rate and a significant reduction or evaporation of the income of many bosses in the security industry.

If crime remains as bad as it is today,  the industry will continue to make money and so will the bosses of these firms.

So crime pays !

Item #2  There could be civil unrest

When more and more people find themselves suddenly out of a job, the bills don’t stop and so one would expect for those who are immediately impacted to react, as life would have become more difficult for these persons, as now without work they would be unable to take care of themselves and there families. Mind you this would be short-term, but if I am hungry now and cannot pay my bills, I have a problem now that needs an immediate solution.

So for these folks though they are now out of a job  by virtue of reduction in those committing  crimes,  so the absence of crime means no income.

So crime pays !

Item # 3 Politicians would become weak

Politics in Jamaica is about power, its about the ability to make things happen, which you could never make happen were you an ordinary person. Politicians in Jamaica are powerful, so powerful they can make you life a living hell if you “cross” them in simply trying to do your job. If you are in the public sector then dog nyam u suppa as there is hardly anyone to “defend you”. Many politicians use that immense power Jamaicans give to them, to corrupt the process and in so doing create loyal supporters, while providing food to those persons who offer loyalty. They corruptly offer themselves government contracts, jobs in the public sector they are not qualified to have and  while we may question it , we hardly are  in a position to do anything about that.

What if our politicians had little or no influence over who gets government contracts, could not recommend anyone for employment, had little or no access to government money, what would happen.

They would become weak, that power would have been lost and there would be no career in politics as now you would be judge solely on your ability to do the job you were employed to deliver and nothing else.

So crime (in this case corruption) pays !

Item #4 Lawyers would have to work than much harder and win less cases.

There is enough anecdotal evidence out there to show collusion  between lawyers, police and others to win criminal cases.

Evidence vanishes, witness vanishes and transfer of funds take place between various accounts after which purveyors of crime walks free.

No case against Mr X , who leaves court beaming lawyer in tow saying ” I know all along that Mr X was innocent and now the court has agreed with me, now Mr X can move on to rebuild his life”.

People see these lawyers winning cases after cases and the immediately assumption is these guys are good, so if I get into trouble a ” im me want fi represent me”, which means more and more cases for these guys and more dollars in the process.

So crime pays handsomely

Item # 5 Lawyers would see less cases coming their way, which would mean loss of income

Less crime and cases of corruption means less cases for lawyers, which would lead to loss of income.

So Crime pays 

Item # 6  Some cops could see a significant reduction in their income

No bribes to drop a ticket, no money to hide or corrupt the evidence , means less income for deviant cops and given the low crime rate they are unable to commit other crime to supplement their income.

So Crime pays !

Item # 7 Many public sector workers would not be able to pay their bills

Given the line I have taken above one can see the correlation here. Proceeds of crime ( corruption) provides supplementary income to many in the pubic sector. Cut off this support as a result in improved operational efficiency in this sector means loss of income, which is a problem. If I know I can take 15 minutes or less to get the task at hand done, then I don’t need to pay someone to speed up the process for me.

This would lead to major problems as public sector workers could no longer agree to any wage freeze, as with the evaporation of income from the “runnings”, not getting an increase with rising prices, would be a big problem albeit in the short term.

So crime pays 

Item # 8  More people could lose their homes and cars.

This goes without saying. People plan their lifestyle based on expected income and if income goes up, they enjoy a “better” life style. This does not go down when income goes down as that means loss of “face” amongst your peers. This desire to keep things the way they were would lead to loss of personal assets as people would refuse to adjust their lifestyle to match their income.

So crime pays 

Now given the above, who willing to take on the challenge to  “solve” our crime problem ?

What good reason is there to solve our crime problem.

I would love to hear from you.

Note:

My comments above is not to endorse criminal conduct be it corruption or otherwise, but instead to speak honestly and place on the table the issues as I see them.

If one cannot first recognise the problem, understand the underlying cause(s) of the problem, understand the issues that could arise from resolving the problem, there is a 90% chance that problem will never be truly corrected.

If persons cannot see how resolving the “perceived” problem will make things better for them, then forget, you will NEVER be able to fix that particular problem as they will not give you the support that is necessary to solve that problem.

Later….

Reasons why me have to fix the problem and the long-term benefits.