Cops flood public spaces to keep Christmas orderly
/ Our Today
administrator
The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) will be maintaining an increased presence in public spaces during the Yuletide season.
Speaking at a Jamaica Information Service Think Tank on December 14, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Stephanie Lindsay, head of the JCF Corporate Communications Unit, said the police had ramped up their patrol of the streets since November.
“Previously, we would normally be out the first week in December; we have been out since early November because it is important for us to manage our public spaces,” she noted.
Lindsay said a large pool of personnel has been dispatched, including officers operating in non-core roles, plus officers-in-training.
“We have scaled back on most of our non-operational activities and all those persons are currently out in the streets, so we are seeing a good percentage increase of police presence especially in our public spaces. We are already getting the feedback that people are seeing the increased police presence out there,” she said.
SSP Gary McKenzie, head of the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch, said the increased police presence would help to curtail street crimes, including robberies.
“We have special teams that are out there that are targeting the criminal elements. We have observed that a number of these robberies are being carried out by motorcyclists and that they are not alone.
“They usually have pillion riders, some of them armed, and we have intercepted a number of them over the past few weeks and we will continue to work assiduously to rid the streets of those persons,” he said.
McKenzie noted that, in addition to responding to crime, the police aim to ensure that traffic flows freely along the roadways.
“One of the problems that we have at this time of the year is the amount of congestion that exists, especially in business areas. We, as police officers, are doing our best to ensure that we have very few congestion points along the roadways, especially in the Corporate Area and other townships,” he said.
JIS
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