Categories: Current Events

Earlier in the week, high-ranking police officials announced that they were making some progress in the fight against crime. According to police data, murders have decreased since January compared with last year’s record of 1,700. but before the nation’s finest could pop the champagne, their colleagues and civilians began dropping like flies. We haven’t even gone a full week into the new year and already 25 people have been shot, 6 of the police officers, of which 2 have died. Most of the cops have been attacked at intersections, when their guard is at its lowest, and most of the civilian attacks have taken place in St. James, the tourist capital of Jamaica. Looks like criminals make New Year’s resolutions too.

The private sector has expressed their outrage over the recent bloodletting, but all I’ve heard from the Government is their concern about how this will affect the tourism industry. Yeah. Care for the tourists more than your own people. Care about the honeymooners and the married men and women looking for a tropical fling who stay here for a week, instead of the hard working men and women who spend their entire lives making this beautiful yet beleaguered island a better place.

The voices calling for the resumption of hanging have grown louder. It started with the execution of Saddam Hussein and has now been reinforced by these tragic happenings. I for one agree. Sure Amnesty International may pout and make all the noise it wants, but they are a foreign agency. They don’t understand what’s happening out here. They don’t realize that these criminals aren’t simply interested in snatching old ladies’ purses, they are out the destroy the very fabric of our society. The recent killings prove it. They want to extinguish every bit of hope in this island and keep its people in fear. And what better way than to wipe out the very people appointed to protect us? And isn’t it strange that they didn’t object to Saddam’s hanging? The police say that the recent killings have not weakened their resolve, but they’re just putting on a brave face. Anyone with half a brain cell would be scared right now. I fear for what lies ahead for our country in the coming year. Let’s hope justice prevails.