Dwight Nelson

MINISTER OF National Security Dwight Nelson has rejected the perception that his ministry is a graveyard for ministers.

In the two years since being elected, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has seen three ministers in the challenging portfolio without any major dent in the crime numbers.

Derrick Smith, who shadowed the national security portfolio for more than 10 years while the JLP was in opposition, was the first security minister appointed by Prime Minister Bruce Golding.

Smith spent nine months in office before he was replaced by former police commissioner Colonel Trevor MacMillan, who lasted ten months before he was replaced by Nelson, who heads a ministry which many believe could kill his political career.

"This perception is indicative of a presumption of failure even before any minister starts the job, and an assumption that success is solely dependent on the action of the minister," Nelson declared during an interview with The Sunday Gleaner.

disappointed

A recent Gleaner-commissioned Bill Johnson poll showed that nearly half the population was still disappointed with the high crime rate, but Nelson is adamant that the task of taming the crime monster is not a job for any one person.

He dismissed claims that very little had been done since he assumed the portfolio.

"In the first instance, anyone who assumes that portfolio must do so secure in the knowledge that he is capable of undertaking that responsibility, and second, no minister of national security, acting alone, will be able to solve crime and violence," he argued.

The minister contended that the fight against crime must be a national effort led and coordinated by the ministry, which is responsible for policy-making.

Nelson claimed that since he was assigned to the ministry in April, he had activated a range of strategies to address crime and violence both in the short and long term.

deteriorating situation

"We are concerned about the deteriorating crime-and-violence situation and are putting in place long-term strategies to ensure continuity of the effect of the short-term measures," Nelson told The Sunday Gleaner.

He said his first initiative was an assault on organised criminal networks.

"It is important that we dismantle these gangs, so we are developing anti-gang legislation to deal with the suppression of gangs in line with Canada, Australia and the United States.

"I have to do this because 90 per cent of homicides are gang-related ... . There are about 200 gangs across the island, many of which mutate, creating additional problems for the police."

Nelson said there were signs that this effort was yielding results as several gang leaders had been taken into custody over the last month. He argued that the media had failed to notice that late last week - between Thursday and Friday - there was not a single case of homicide over a 24-hour period.

gang recruits

The minister revealed that Jamaica was collaborating with several international partners to build a cadre of police with the requisite skills to facilitate systematic identification tracking and documentary and evidence production to build cases against these gangs. "We are also taking firm and determined steps in communities to reduce the pool of gang recruits."

Nelson disclosed that the Government was also tackling the links among criminal gangs in Jamaica, Haiti and Dominican Republic by developing a platform of cooperation with these countries.

"In June of this year, we exchanged letters with Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which allows the security forces in all three states to share information, engage in joint operational initiatives, and undertake capacity building exchanges."

The minister also listed recent breakthroughs in the war against criminal gangs. He said investigators had raked in millions of dollars by seizing the assets of persons who had accumulated wealth by illegal means.

"In one month, between June and July of this year, J$20 million was seized, as well as US$2.9 million; CAD$19,000 and £98,000," Nelson revealed. "This is after an MOU was signed between the Financial Investigations Division of the finance ministry and the Jamaica Constabulary Force."

immediate strategy

Nelson cited as another immediate strategy, the decision to address deficiencies in the Jamaica Constabulary Force. "We accept the complaints about the lack of police visibility on the streets ... . I would prefer to hear people complain that they are stopped too frequently on the roads by the police."

He said the Government had started to address the problem of human resources in the force by recruiting members of the Island Special Constabulary Force and the public to relieve trained police personnel of static desk and gate duties.

In addition to giving the police greater mobility by providing them with more motor vehicles, bikes and bicycles, Nelson said millions had been spent over the past six months to set new training facilities in motion.

"Twickenham Park has been upgraded and training has started in Tranquility Bay, on which we spent approximately $15 million to transform it into a training facility," he said.

Police personnel gather at the crime scene in Kingston. File