WESTERN BUREAU:
Amid a notable decline in crime across the island since the start of the year, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness is calling on Jamaican fathers to actively steer their sons away from criminal activity, emphasising that the risk-to-reward ratio for crime is now increasingly unfavourable.
Speaking on Fatherโs Day at a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) workersโ appreciation event in Hopewell, Hanover, Holness urged men to maintain strong lines of communication with their children, especially their sons, and to discourage them from seeing crime as a path to financial gain.
โ … Talk to your sons, talk to your children,โ said Holness. โEncourage them, point out to them that the Jamaica of today is not the Jamaica of 10 years ago. The JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) of today is more equipped, better led, has better strategy, better communication equipment, better investigations taking place. We have changed the risk-reward function of crime.โ
Holness argued that under enhanced security measures currently in place, criminals now face significantly higher risks with fewer benefits.
Highlighting a reduction in violence in Hanover specifically, Holness shared that he had been informed by a senior police officer that 21 fewer murders have occurred in the parish, compared to the same period last year.
In taking a position that is opposite to the Opposition Peopleโs National Party, Holness credited the states of emergencies and the zones of special operations for the reduction in crimes across the country, while insisting that Jamaica must reach a stage of safety, where โJamaicans are able to sleep with their windows and doors openโ.
