'Brains Over Guns' - Jamaica Police Commisioner's Advice to the JCF

'Brains over guns' -

Lewin urges cops to outsmart criminals

In the wake of the announcement by the new Commish to replace
the M16 assault rifles with the more modest but equally powerful
MP5 rifles for the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), a number of
calls to the indefatigable Mutty Perkings show, 'Perkins Online'
on Power 106 FM have expressed mixed reactions. Some of these
range from applause to utter disagreement even amongst callers that
appear to be members of the Police. What Commish Lewin said was that
while in the line of duty, a policeman's best weapon is his brain
and he must use it.

During the course of the day, the ‘forum’ like discussion ventured into
the subject of what positive things have taken place in Jamaica since
the new government took over and Mr. Wilmot 'Mutty' Perkins challenged

his callers to pin point some of these. Most of the callers were frustrated in
naming and pin-pointing examples even though they all believe that
things are improving. And that's a start - the feeling that things
are improving should help allay stress in our daily lives.
The reassurance that our police department is gradually taking shape
in positive ways is to be applauded.

The new initiative by the commissioner should help calm a few more
nerves because if the truth be told, the sight of those assault rifles
protruding haphazardly through police vehicles during a traffic jam is
unnerving to innocent motorists and may also be provoking 'cop killers' into
action to 'test' their own fate. Is it unrealistic to expect the return one day of

the JCF to using the baton for policing communities?

Rear Admiral Hadley Lewin's thought-provoking remark that the police
should combat crime with their brains and not with their weapons is probably
the best he's made since taking up the position of Commissioner of Police.
Mr. Wilmot Perkins asks of his callers to name what good things are happening to

Jamaica since the new government came into power, and while the writer
is no spokesperson for the Jamaica Labor Party government, Mr. Perkins may note

the following:

1. Urban transportation appears to be working, a number of roads in the
   corporate areas including Portmore and Montego Bay have been rehabilitated and major works are currently going on at Marcus Garvey Drive to ease motorists' tension. Kudos to Minister of Transport, Mike Henry and to that illustrious Mr. Shaw of the National Works Agency for being so effective at easing the motorists' frustrations and tension on the roads.


2. Minister of Education, Andrew Holness, appears to be tackling education woes in
   schools – prompt reaction to damage control at violence-prone schools, sexual permissiveness of teenagers in schools and on the buses as well as textbook censoring. While the minister is to be commended; there is always room for improvement in being proactive and not reactive in preventing many of these woes.


3. Dr. Christopher Tufton, the (‘remember to put your head beside the head’)
   Minister of Agriculture, has done a lot to reduce poverty for a lot of Jamaicans
   through subsidies, reduction and/or removal of customs duty on a number of food
   and agro products. If the local merchants refuse to pass on the savings to consumers, then Dr. Tufton's job is yet to be completed. The Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ought to make it more known to the public, how much the government is giving up in duty and other concessions to make the food basket easier for the pocket of ordinary Jamaicans. This is so very important with the rising world economic and food crisis. What use is it if the Government subsidise food items but their big time friends just pocket the savings without passing it on. This would not work, and the consumers ought to start sticking out for what is right starting now...


4. The Minister of National Security, Hon. Derrick Smith, is very often criticized by many as not being eloquent enough in response to daily crisis pertaining to crime in Jamaica. It is said that 'the proof of the pudding is in the tasting', and also that 'silent river runs deep'. There was recently a news item that Jamaica had a 'crime free' day recently. That is good news and Minister Derrick Smith is to be commended for were it the opposite that happened, we would not hear the end of it in the news media.
   Minister Derrick Smith may not be as loquacious as his predecessors in the post and his management style may be one of working behind the scenes to get the work done – if the nation can garner more crime-free days, more grease to his crime prevention style. Recently, an 11 month old child lost his life at the hands of a careless cop as reported in the news. Minister Smith was criticized by some who enjoy listening to garrulous government ministers trumping the news media with any kind of news, so they can foster their personal agenda. While the good minister couldn't bring back the child's life, none of us knew what he was doing in the background to evoke a redress of the situation to not only placate the child's family, but also to discipline the policeman in question. The Minister of National Security does not have to come trumping his chest to the nation every time something happens - how effective can his ministry be if that's all he can do. In comparison to other nations, first world or otherwise, how many ministers of national security come a running to tell the nation of everything that his ministry plans to do, or has achieved? - certainly not the USA nor the UK that we tend to emulate.If working behind the scenes is the forte of Mr. Derrick Smith, then all allow him to do his job.

Senator Barrack Obama in his presidential nomination campaign talks about change and the audacity of hope. Jamaica, through the audacity of hope, has effected change in the government that it wants as its leader. Then give that hope the chance to fruition, even in the face of world economic crisis that is affecting Jamaica as part of the global village. If we don't, we would have ourselves to blame, and many waters would have already run under the bridge downstream. In other words, when is time for the opposition PNP party to pick up the pieces, it wouldn't be just them but all of us who would have to ‘sleep in the bed that we have laid’.