Criminologist says JFJ protest only served to demotivate cops

 

Criminologist and district constable Dr. Jason McKay believes last week's protest by human rights lobby group Jamaicans for Justice over the high level of police fatal shootings, only served to demotivate cops and empower criminals. 

 

Speaking Monday morning on TVJ's Smile Jamaica, Dr. McKay said he does not think the values of the JFJ are interlinked with the values of organised gangs operating in the country. But he argued that JFJ is not genuinely interested in defending the human rights of Jamaicans. He suggested that JFJ's activism should instead be focused on the victims of gang violence.

 

"Thousands of people have been killed; good, innocent people have been killed," Dr. McKay bemoaned, suggesting the JFJ protest was ill-conceived. He argued that the country has been "at war for the last 50 years," adding that "now we're actually taking it seriously; now we're actually winning." 

 

"The biggest hit to fighting crime in this country was a demotivated police force. And for years, everything was done to demotivate it, to include Jamaicans for Justice. Now, at this point in time, what you're seeing is almost 18,000 persons out there everyday, actively working towards a cause. So when you see somebody who you consider a decent citizen standing up and protesting against you, that works to demotivate the persons who are putting their lives on the line everyday and their families' lives," the criminologist contended. 

 

Meanwhile, Dr. McKay asserted that it is normal to see a rise in fatal shootings due to increased confrontations between police and criminals. 

 

"Police operations are what determines contact. Contact determines the combat. And when you have the contact is when persons get hurt or killed, you know. The more police operations you have, you're trying to get to guys with all these rifles and guns, you're going to have more combat and then at that point in time, then you're going to find persons being hurt or killed. It's unavoidable if you're going to engage this group. You can take another alternative and negotiate with them for rights of government because that's where Haiti is going now and that's where we could go. 

 

"So when we as the good people of the country are fighting this small subset called gangs and then among us a group of good people come out and protest without a tangible issue other than just a number, then it is in effect almost collaborating with them," he said. 

 

With more than 100 fatal shootings by law enforcement since the start of the year, JFJ Executive Director Mickel Jackson has insisted the protest was not anti-police but rather pro-accountability.