Outta Control Police

A commissioner of police – Hardley Lewin has been apologising for the actions of his fellow officers who shot at a car and injured a 10 month old baby, 4 ordinary people and another police officer. 

The Gleaner reports that the car looked the same as one used in a robbery.  It was stopped by police.  The police say they saw something “suspicious” inside and, despite the fact the car had stopped when asked,  they opened fire. 

It’s not the first time that this kind of thing has happened.  In March 2008, an 11 month old baby was killed as a police officer was shooting at a car driving down March Pen Road in Spanish Town. 

An inquiry has been ordered into this shooting by the Bureau of Special Investigations.  It is well documented (see this article by Amnesty International for more info on this) that officers in Jamaica very rarely get prosecuted for people killed (let alone injured) in the line of duty.

Too dirty dancing?

There is once again criticism being voiced about the dance moves which are wildly popular on Jamaican dance floors.

The criticism comes from Margaret Macaulay, who is a Jamaican judge on the Inter- American Court, a womens rights activist, an attorney and she has also been labelled a “child lobbyist”.   She’s a pretty outspoken woman and from this photo of her in the Gleaner she looks like someone you may not want to mess with.   Read a profile of her here.

This time, the dance being singled out is called “daggerin” .  See the Youtube clip below for an illustration.  The dance basically takes it’s name as the sharp stabbing motion simulating a man and woman having sex.

Macauley’s criticism is directed at the parents of young children who are exposing their kids to the dance and who can be seen sometimes putting out these moves late at night in front of loud sound systems in ghetto areas of Kingston, Jamaica.  I myself have witnessed this on a number of occasions on Smith Lane in Kingston.

She may have a point but it doesn’t seem to amount to anything other than an opinion which will quickly disappear into the ether.  What practically can be done?  It’s only a dance after all isn’t it?

Murders in 2008

The number of people murdered in Jamaica in 2008 reached 1600.

That’s the second highest total ever recorded. 2005 saw more people killed – 1,674 was the total then. Read about 2005 totals here.

There were 1,574 murders reported in 2007, a 17 per cent rise on 2006. More details on those figures here.

One of the final murders in 2008 was a pregnant woman who was apparently shot over an argument about the whereabouts of an illegal gun. She and two others were taken out of the car they were driving in and shot several times. See full details of that shooting here.

I thought this photo of a woman shot on the street with her unfinished fizzy drink beside her while people around look on shows the reality of what these figures amount to. It has now become something that people become immune to and expect to see. Unless you are directly related to the person lying there, it’s easy to feel detached. While the fear means that more and more people stay indoors, they keep their houses, their mouths and their eyes tightly bound shut.

Bruce Golding is claiming success in his policies and says he’s going to improve the justice system – if it wasn’t so tragic it would be seriously laughable.