Bounty Killer Says SOEs Are Ineffective, Offers Better Solution To Solve Jamaica’s Crime Problem
Dancehall veteran Bounty Killer has said that the measures implemented by the Jamaican government to address crime have been wholly ineffective.
Bounty Killer took particular aim at the Zones of Special Operations (ZOSO), first implemented in Montego Bay, St James in October 2017. The veteran artiste, made his views known in an 8-minute-long video posted on the Facebook page of outgoing Police Federation chairman Patrae Rowe.
According to the entertainer, successive governments have sought to treat the end product of crime, criminal behavior, rather than prevent the elements that create it.
Bounty Killer shared that crime was the result of social dysfunction, coupled with a myriad of other factors such as moral issues, poverty and poor schooling.
He said to some extent, successive governments want to keep the people ignorant as it is politically beneficial, creating a system which favors vote-buying, which though illegal under Jamaican law, is understood to be widespread. “The government kinda like when the youth dem a idiot still enuh. Cause them like when they can go dung deh and manipulate them head and tell dem some foolishness and make them do their political work,” said Bounty Killer.
“Them nuh like when smart, smart people inna politics enuh, them only like dem up a parliament. But they like to come and say ‘ fundamentally’ and put some word where the people dem nuh know what you a say enuh,” Killer added as his audience erupted in laughter.
Defends policing in Jamaica
The entertainer went on to share with his audience that the high levels of crime in the country were not as a result of poor policing, noting that the job of the police was not to reform society.
“It wasn’t like seh the police or soldier nah do them job, but fi dem job nah scare nobody from doing fi dem job, cause dem man deh a dunce thug,” said Killer.
” We have to fix dem dunce thugs head, if we want to solve crime in Jamaica, cause no care how you have SOEs inna dat deh community or round a dat deh one deh too, you have to help the young people of the country, especially the young boys dem, ” added the singer.
According to the artiste, the police were outnumbered by a constant stream of criminals coming into the system on an almost daily basis. Not only were the police outnumbered, but they were up against youngsters who had no value for life.
He further encouraged the government to allocate more resources to stem the roots of crime which he said had to do with poor education and an overall lack of opportunities.
“Stop waste the money pon policing, police a wicked man inna Jamaica , dem haffi have, what it name? INDECOM fi pree our police. Our police nuh fraid fi slap weh boy, you think our police dem a idiot? Our police dem bad but dem boy yah mad dem nuh have nuh value for them life. So nuh care how much of them the police dem kill, you have another hundred rising,” said Killer
Bounty Killer’s solution to crime
The artiste shared that he believed one of the ways to improve the situation in the country, was to provide social development, which would deter youth from going down the path of crime in the first place.
“We have SOEs looking for the bad boys but what about the good boys? ” asked Bounty.
According to Bounty, no one was looking out for the good boys, ensuring that they don’t end up in crime, noting that there were no activities being implemented to prevent them from falling into the vicious cycle of crime.
“Look in all the inner cities, is only bad boys we are looking for. First thing you hear dem seh, peace management dem a break it down, dem nuh bother want no more peace management; all the little people dem weh go round and talk to the little youth dem and encourage them not to be bad boys, dem nuh want to put no more money into that, dem want to put it into SOEs alone, so a bad boys alone them want to look for and then the bad boys find the little good boys and turn them inn a bad boys too, cause they are idle and nobody is looking out for them,” said Bounty.
The entertainer shared that social development was vital as well as others giving back, noting that he has been helping to do his part, by reaching his hand into poor garrison communities, with music, helping to promote a different way of life and and opportunities.
“A dat mi been doing by carrying in youth enuh. A the hardest garrison me tek people out and an tun dem inna super star” said Bounty.
“Every badman as them start make money and start live comfortable him nuh bodda want to bad again enuh, a way of life dem nuh know,” added Bounty.