Brown bemoans crime scourge, appeals for unity to restore law and order
Published:Saturday | October 29, 2022 | 12:09 AMJudana Murphy/Gleaner Writer
Opposition senator Lambert Brown is bemoaning the “state of fear and trepidation” in which Jamaica finds itself, calling for effective action from the Government to reduce the high murder rate.
He said since the start of the year up to October 22, some 1,265 murders have been committed in Jamaica, representing an 8.1-per cent increase over the corresponding period last year.
“This fear is palpable. You can literally feel it among our citizens. Nowhere in Jamaica is safe. Normally quiet parishes have seen dramatic increases in murders,” Brown said in his contribution to the State of the Nation Debate in the Senate on Friday.
Brown referenced recent posts made on Twitter by Jamaicans expressing their fears, one of which was posted in all caps by a media personality: “I AM AFRAID OF JAMAICA”.
Another person tweeted: “Jamaica I love you but this is beginning to feel like a toxic relationship. I don’t recognize you anymore. I don’t feel safe with you. You are slowly eroding my hope. You, we are better than this.”
The Opposition senator said that in 2019, National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang had said that intelligence indicated that almost 200 illegal firearms were entering the country every month.
Brown said if that is true, over the past 36 months, approximately 7,200 illegal guns could have entered the country.
He shared that reports from the Jamaica Constabulary Force reveal an average recovery of 65 guns per month.
“Put another way, only three of every 10 illegal guns entering our country are being recovered. That means seven of every 10 illegal guns remain in the hands of the criminals. No wonder, the gun accounts for 85 per cent of the murders committed in Jamaica this year,” the opposition senator lamented.
Firearms Act
Brown raised concerns about when the recently passed Firearms Act would take effect.
The act provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years imprisonment for illegal possession of a firearm.
“Let us be clear, this bill was tabled over eight months ago in Parliament. It went through the parliamentary process and [was] passed over a month ago,” he argued.
Later in the sitting, government senator Charles Sinclair indicated that the act will be gazetted by next Monday.
Brown reasoned that Jamaica needs a national consensus on crime, adding that the time has come for a different approach to tackling the scourge of illegal guns and brazen criminals.
“Let us launch a crusade mobilising the entire society against illegal guns. This should be at least 12 months of intensive national mobilisation against illegal guns,” he said. “Transformation of a society does not come merely by passing legislation or confining citizens to curfews or unconstitutional states of emergency.”
He stressed the need for relentless efforts to change the culture, values and attitudes of the majority of the population.
Meanwhile, Brown proposed that a Special Committee on Crime Reduction be established. He explained that the committee would be charged with monitoring crime, receiving and developing views from the public, including local and international crime-fighting experts, on measures needed to assist the hard-working and often-stressed members of the security forces.
“Let this committee be properly resourced to focus like a laser beam in crime reduction. Let it be truly bipartisan in its make-up. Make it be an example to Jamaica that both sides of the Parliament take crime reduction seriously,” he told his colleagues in the Upper House.