Glen Cruickshank, attorney-at-law, accepts the Silver Pen Award from Jenni Campbell, managing editor of The Gleaner Company, at the newspaper's head office on North Street in Kingston last Thursday. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
Glen Cruickshank, QC, says the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) should focus more on apprehending murderers than concentrating its efforts on reducing the toll by five per cent.
Cruickshank was speaking with The Gleaner last Thursday after accepting the Silver Pen Award for the month of November for penning a Letter to the Editor about the anti-crime bills under deliberation before Parliament.
The attorney-at-law is pessimistic that there will be a five per cent drop in murders for 2009, a target announced by Police Commissioner Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin last Tuesday.
"There must be a concerted effort in solving crime and bringing back the level of confidence that is necessary between the public and the JCF," he said.
Capturing lawbreakers
The former executive director of the Legal Aid Council said the island's security personnel should focus efforts on capturing lawbreakers, properly investigating criminal cases, providing proper security for witnesses and ultimately seeking conviction.
"If they fail in this regard, then persons will continue to take the law into their own hands and murders, like the population, will continue to increase," said Cruickshank.
Cruickshank was also awarded a Silver Pen Award in 2005.
The defence lawyer said he pens a Letter to the Editor once every three months.