What’s your job? I’m a thief …

Photo by Anne Ruthmann

It seems more and more Jamaicans are taking up robbery as a professional career.  In times of economic downturn, crime pays.

There’s been a staggering increase in the number of reported robberies, a 79 per cent increase on around this time last year.  In actual numbers, there were 277 robberies and 294 break-ins in one month alone.

It’s pretty shocking, but easy money.  I remember talking to some guys who were eagerly awaiting hurricane season one year for looting opportunities. It’s like other countries wait for the strawberry picking season for their employment.

I suppose it makes perfect sense if this is the only way you can see to make money.  But the knock on effects of a worsening crime situation on the island are obvious enough.  Robbery is the nail in the coffin for local businesses struggling to keep afloat.

House break-ins only increase the number of gated developments with their  barking dogs outside as people lock themselves away at night – this kind of thing can destroy communities.

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.

High Profile policeman set to leave JA

The British police officer Mark Shields who joined the Jamaican police in 2005 is leaving next year.  see full article here  .  i remember when this guy first came in.   There was all this talk about what he could possibly do, whether indeed it was the right thing to do to ask former colonial rulers to come in and try and sort out the mess.  Well after a good few years, what has been achieved?  Well he managed to get one don behind bars (see this post I wrote about the dons)

He’s come under abit of scrutiny for his lifestyle – sexy life living it up, going to see the cricket all the time, looking relaxed and belonging to an elite social circle.   In his house on Jamaican foothills and his relationship with various women he’s been labelled as a very eligible bachelor from some parts of the press.

He was in charge of the murder inquiry into cricket guy Wolmer, which seemed to be onto something when he said something about corruption in the game – but then that didn’t really go anywhere and then things went abit pear shaped there when he backtracked on this point and the debate regarding whether Wolmer was actually poisoned or whether he died of natural causes.

That’s what’s mostly been written about him which doesn’t really say much about what he’s actually achieved.  Has it been worth the money Jamaica has paid him?  Are ordinary Jamaicans better off for having him working in the force?

I would tactfully suggest that the jury is still out on that point, but I would be interested in hearing what you think about it.  Some people might say he is quite good looking nonetheless.  He’s not my type - I hasten to add.

More shootings in Kingston

So many shootings in Jamaica but I still read through the details because I might recognise the place or some of the people, so I look carefully at the pictures.   This one caught my eye because I have been to this gaming lounge and to Boulevard Shopping Centre many times.

What happened was an off duty soldier got involved with an argument – two guys didn’t like the fact he was dancing with a woman.  Such a stupid argument and it ends with four people dead.

The off duty soldier decides to take out his weapon and kills the two guys confronting him and all the people there were trying to hide underneath the pool table.  The terroir doesn’t end there either as the solder orders people out from underneath – finds another boy and shoots him too and then shoots himself.

On top of that – the army truck comes a long and whisks the soldier away before the police can do anything.  I had a nightmare last night that someone was running after me with a gun.  I was terrified.  The memory is still with me – so i can imagine the horror of people caught in that gaming lounge.  Coming out for a good time and having to witness this.  Where will this mindless violence and bloodshed end?  Don’t you think it has to do with too much male ego?

Jamaica’s Crime Victims

As crime increases, so do victims of crime.  As a consequence of this,  Jamaica’s Victim Support Unit is inundated.  They say they are also having to change their working strategy because of the increasing severity of crimes they come across. i thought it would be good to see how the unit operates and what they can achieve. Read more here

It must be very difficult on the people who work there to have to offer support to victims of crime and with the lack of adequate justice, is there any real closure for being a victim of crime?

The answer to gun crime? More guns apparently.

I read in despair this news that Jamaica’s National Gun Rights Association (NGRA) is calling on the Firearm Licensing Authority to immediately speed up the processing of the thousands of firearm applications which the group says are on file, so that they can defend themselves against attack.  The answer to gun crime ? More guns.  How funny people are.