Commissioner of Police Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin views the murder scene where two policemen were killed in Trench Town on Friday.- Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

The Editor, Sir:

I weep with the members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force in the wake of the most brutal murder of two of our fellow Jamaicans who were sworn to serve, protect and reassure, and were actively doing so at the time of their death at the hands of heartless scoundrels.

Sir, the responses are the same for decades from the commissioners, Police Federation chairmen, ministers and other governmental officials: "We will stop at nothing to get the culprits"; or "The Government must do something now" to "hang the murderers". I say yes to all of these things, but have they captured many culprits in the past? Does the Government even know what to do? Or, how many murderers have been caught?

Jamaica is not only in the top three of the most murderous countries on planet Earth, but a murderous criminals' paradise where you have a greater than 60 per cent chance of getting away with any crime, including murder.

freedom is a myth without security

As far back as the 1970s, Michael Manley pointed out that "freedom is a myth without security". Democracy and freedom as we know it, have been constantly under threat from criminals ever since. The situation is critical as in any decent freedom-loving society in the world, continued barefaced attacks on the citizenry and on those sworn to protect it cannot be tolerated.

Sir, the crime situation in our country has long passed mere crime; it is now infested with a criminal terrorist subculture that is going mainstream. Listen to some of our parsons, some deejays, teachers, politicians, university professors, some of whom even go the extra mile to give intellectual legitimacy to vulgarity and the reinforcement of violence and other criminal behaviour.

The whole society has to take a stance against criminality, but the first thing that is needed is a clearly understood sociological definition of crime as "any behaviour that attracts a fine or imprisonment". With this definition, we would realise that the problem could be that we are all criminals who have conspired wittingly or unwittingly to create a murderous criminals' paradise that only we can change.

Our crime problem needs deeper sociological study so that the root causes can be found, as it is obvious to all that you can never kill the crime tree by picking off the leaves and cutting off a few branches.

I am, etc.,

MICHAEL SPENCE

Micspen2@hotmail.com

P.O. Box 630

Liguanea, Kingston 6