DARING ACTS of theft featured prominently in the news in 2008 with the most amazing report being the theft of an entire beach. Most chilling, however, was the reported plundering of belongings of market vendors who died in the horrific Portland truck tragedy in December. Reports stated that the shop of one passenger was emptied after the accident.

Just days before the dawn of the New Year, the deep-seated acceptance of thievery by many Jamaicans surfaced. One honest woman - Dhaima Brookes - who returned cash that she found, has received death threats.

cursed and threatened

On Sunday, December 28, Brookes stumbled upon $1 million in an ATM in the Portmore Mall, St Catherine, in 10 stacks of $1,000 bills neatly packaged in a white plastic bag. She managed to return the money to its rightful owner. She was cursed and threatened by persons at the mall who witnessed the discovery.

Local psychologist and workplace productivity consultant Dr Leachim Semaj says that stealing is "entrenched in the Jamaica psyche. The excepted thing is that if you find something you will hold on to it".

Theft, Semaj states, is accepted, accommodated and hidden in many Jamaican institutions. He claims the practice is widespread in some financial institutions.

Semaj notes that schools are often the target of thieves, and disturbingly, involves past students and their parents sometimes. "When a computer centre at school is robbed it is often past students or students themselves who organise this," he reveals.

The productivity consultant also notes that praedial larceny, which is endemic in agricultural areas, is one of the biggest drains on this sector.

The problem, he notes, is that the thieves are supported by the wider community. "They have supporters. Many Jamaicans readily support people who steal. They buy the stolen goods, including making purchases from men selling CDs and DVDs but who do not have a licence to do so.

"We really have not made a duty of enforcing issues regarding honesty. Stealing is a national disease. A child will take home a bag and the mother will say 'Very good. See if you can find something else tomorrow.' They (parents) encourage them.

"And, in many of our schools, stealing is accepted and accommodated by the rules - when you change for PE, don't leave clothes; don't leave books. They have not declared war on theft; they accept it.

"At some of the larger retail stores, clients' receipts are checked at the exit. One of the primary reasons is to prevent collusion between cashiers and their confederates," Semaj reveals.

Using company time

So warped is the attitude towards stealing, he says, that many consider themselves to be in business if they can use company time and equipment to run their own business.

"Classic cases play out in the media, too. If you want to promote an event you may opt to pay someone directly to put out information, as opposed to buying an advertising spot. The employee would also ensure the level of coverage," he says.

Such acts, the consultant notes, reduce the income that could have gone directly to the company.

Semaj suggests that policymakers consider a school-based campaign on what he calls the "10-8 plan." This involves the reorganisation of the Ten Commandments in order to teach the tenth before the eighth.

"'Thou shalt not covet'," he states, would make it easier to obey, '"thou shalt not steal'."

The JCF's provisional data for 2008 on theft and robberies

In 2008, the number of robberies was 2,647 compared to 1,601 in 2007 and 1,009 in 2006.

Break-ins (often with an intent to rob) were 2,428 in 2008; 1,493 in 2007 and 1,297 in 2006.

In 2008, the German-based Transparency International placed Jamaica as the 96th most-corrupt country in the world, 12 places above the 2007 ranking. Countries are scored on a scale of 0-10, with 0 being the most corrupt and 10 being the least. Jamaica's 96th ranking and 3.1 score tied it with the African countries of Gabon, Mali and Benin, Guatemala in Central America and Kiribati in the Pacific.