Additional Police Officers Deployed to Patrol Streets During Christmas

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has dispatched additional personnel to the streets islandwide, to safeguard Jamaicans and ease traffic congestion during the Christmas holiday period.

This was disclosed by Head of the JCF’s Corporate Communications Unit (CCU), Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Stephanie Lindsay.

“We have deployed a number of additional police officers in the various public spaces [where] we know we usually see congestion. We know that it’s associated with shopping, so we also have additional personnel in the various shopping centres right across the country, [particularly] the major town centres. So, you will see more traffic [personnel] out, focusing on that,” she told JIS News.

SSP Lindsay informed that administrative duties for police officers have been scaled back to allow more personnel to be on patrol.

“So where you have police officers in offices, non-geographic formations, and specialised sections at this time of the year, they are all deployed [to the streets]. So we almost have full deployment out there. We only have minimal staff [now] in administrative [functions],” she informed.

The CCU Head also indicated that advanced police trainees are included in the deployment, pointing out that “they are out… to provide [enhanced] physical presence.”

SSP Lindsay informed that dispatching additional security personnel provides some level of assurance to citizens regarding public safety.

“We know that it is very reassuring… when they see the police in their spaces. We also know it is a preventative strategy, because where you have police presence, you tend to find that the criminals don’t operate in the same space, because they know they will be detected and apprehended,” she stated.

Meanwhile SSP Lindsay urges motorists to carpool where possible, as part of efforts to reduce congestion on the streets.

“We encourage persons that if you don’t have to be out there in the hustle and bustle, adding to the traffic congestion, then you probably should stay home. If you have to be out there, if possible, carpool, so that you have less vehicles because, not only is it a challenge for [users of] the major roadways but also for the shopping centres, because they have limited parking in some instances.

“So persons tend to park either on the streets creating additional problems, or in areas that’s not properly secured. So we end up with another challenge, where we have vehicles being broken into because there is not adequate security in the areas they are parked,” she said.

SSP Lindsay advised that members of the Specialised Operations Team have been deployed to respond to armed robberies.

“We have dispatched members… to various locations across the country, to support the local commanders to prevent these instances [of robberies]. In cases where we are not able to prevent them, we have sufficient resources on the ground to quickly apprehend the [culpable] persons,” she said.

The senior officer pointed out that robbers tend to target business establishments that are heavy users of cash. These include supermarkets, wholesales and gambling houses.

SSP Lindsay informed that the deployment of additional resources in public spaces has been ongoing since October.

“For the past two years, because of COVID-19, we didn’t have the usual buzz that’s associated with Christmas. But this year, we started the preparations very early, by putting in additional resources and persons in the public spaces,” she said.