Isaiah Laing, now mostly known as the man behind the Sting show, may have been off the police front-line duties since 1996, but like many Jamaicans he is concerned about the sky rocketing crime rate.

The 'old call of duty' seems to be stirring again for the ex-cop who only a week ago was named in a Gleaner article as a 'super-cop'.

When THE STAR asked in a recent interview if he would come back on board as a crime-fighter, Laing paused and said; "Yes, I will. Because this crime rate, this murder rate, the kind of crime that going on in Jamaica, we can't sit around and allow it to go on. No, it's unbearable right now".

With some five months left in 2008, there has already been approximately 800 murders in the island.

Laing who served in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) from 1976 was removed in April 1996 after the JCF said they had infromation from credible sources which alleged that he was involved in drug activites. He took the JCF to court over the decision to axe him but lost in the Supreme Court.

But despite his removal from crime-fighting, the man who has remained in the public's eyes, mostly through his association with Sting, has a keen interest in the escalating crime situation.

"Well the crime situation right now, I don't think it can get worse," he told The STAR. I think that the police really, really have to get back to basics and do detective work, the work that detectives used to do in the days gone by," he told The STAR.

"From what I am seeing now detectives out there not detecting; they're only investigating. And some of them investigating not even know how to investigate, or where to begin. And a next set of them very lazy."

"In my day, back in the day, when we have a murder to investigate, we nah stop till we find somebody. Back in the days I am almost sure you would have 60 to 70 per cent clear-up. I was really listening the other day, the clear-up thing and murder, most times the clear-up don't mean somebody been charged..."

So what would Laing want to do if he returns to the force, "Honestly, I'm not sure I would really want to hit the streets - I would get the intelligence for them. That, I know I can do better than any police there right now. I can get more intelligence than any police that is in the force right now."

"Yeah, I'll do that. Get the intelligence, tell them how to approach and how to do what. Give me a team of men that I am in charge of, I will deal with it," he said.

Also see a six-part inetview with Laing beginning on Monday.