Jamaican Police.Com

Speaking yesterday as the guest speaker at a Kiwanis Club of downtown Kingston luncheon at the Pegasus Hotel, Dr. Vivian Sawyers, head of the Darling Street Police Station, renewed the call for tougher laws to punish criminals, saying that current ones are outdated and too weak to deter persons from breaking the law.

Dr. Sawyers reportedly said: “Our laws are old. Our penalties are too weak, and if we don’t do anything about them, then we will keep going down … We need to press our legislators to improve on our present laws, especially the penalties. The penalties are too weak and that is the biggest cause of crime … In certain countries you will be sent to prison for assaulting a police officer. In our country, you would have been fined $100. You are not even tried in the RM (Resident Magistrate’s) court, you are tried in the Petty Sessions court.”

Sawyers also reportedly added that improved legislation would also help steer youngsters from criminal lifestyles, and make it more difficult for persons to pay fines to secure their freedom. He said that contrary to popular belief, legislative inefficiencies are in fact responsible for Jamaica’s high crime rate, and not unemployment, drugs, poverty, lack of educational opportunities or political tribalism.

Tags : Crime, criminals, Dr. Vivian Sawyers, Laws