Crime in Jamaica

Jamaica has become a gated country. Every apartment/town-house going up has electronic/automatic gate and/or security personel at the entrance. Thanks to the escallating crime situation. The sad thing about this is even with all that we don't necessarily feel safer and feel compelled to grill every last opening (windows, doors) just in case the afore-mentioned security and electronic gate didn't succeed in keeping out the criminals. It's a sad, worrying situation.

When I was growing up, we didn't have automatic gates and security guards. It creates a dependency because now, I will never live anywhere that doesn't have them. There's a sense of panic if one happens to look outside and notice that for some reason the gate is open and no security is in attendance.

I remember my girl-friend telling me that she doesn't want to live anywhere with security/gates because of that same reason. I remember one Saturday at my previous apartment looking out, seeing the gate open, no security in sight and felt a little fearful. It's no way for anyone to live.

I no longer feel charitable towards the criminals that have us cowering in fear. I want them all dead. Not imprisoned. Not fattened by my hard-earned tax dollars so that they can commit more crimes when they are released. I have no confidence that the police (even the ones seconded here from England) can do anything about it. They haven't made any dent in the numbers so far.

There seems to be an increase in lynching here and I think that's a direct link between that and the confidence (or lack there-of) the public has in the police doing its job. People no longer think that there will be any justice so they have (rightly or wrongly) decided to inflict their own. There was a time when the intelligent side of me would triumph and I would balk at the atrocity and the cringe at the animalistic behavior of these people. I am no longer sure that they aren't doing the right thing. In a situation where (as happened last year) a man laywaits a woman at her workplace, throw acid on her and not only disfigure her but causes her death, and is subsequently killed by enraged onlookers (as happened), how can I feel any sympathy? How can I condemn the the people for not handing him over to the police? I'm not sure that had I been present, I would not have helped in some way. Probably not by actually beating since the sensible side of me probably would have kicked in. I probably would have helped to catch him though, hand him over, telling myself that I'm just handing him over so that they can hand him to the police. Right!

I do remember in my early twenties, while studying one Sunday in an empty class room at what is now known as University of Technology, seeing a man speeding along outside on his bicycle and wondering what he was up to. He didn't look like a student. Minutes later, two girls ran outside screaming and crying that the man held the up with a knife, took their money and jewellery and threatened bodily harm if they made an alarm. Immediately the student body that was present launched a search, found him and gave him a proper beating before handing him over to the police. The police who witnessed the licks, didn't act too hurried in retrieving him from the angry students. At the time clogs were the rage (these tough, board noisy shoes for you men who don't know) and I was wearing a pair. I remember while the students were inflicting boxes and slaps with hands, shoes, and sticks, I had taken off one foot and was trying desperately to make my own mark on him but just could not reach him before the police shoved him in the vehicle. The students seeing him in the police vehicle had backed off but I wasn't satisfied. So seeing him basking in the safety of the police vehicle, I took off my shoe and slap him one on the forehead before running off. It was a most satisfying action to me.

I am scared and angry and fed-up