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The Integrated Ballistic Information System (IBIS) for the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has arrived.The equipment will enable the JCF to fingerprint firearms; build a database of bullets and spent shells recovered from crime scenes; link bullets and spent shells to crime scenes; and make connections between illegal firearms and gun crimes. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mark Shields, told JIS News...

A comprehensive reform of the justice system is being undertaken and is to be given priority budgetary support in the 2006/07 financial year. The reform will be based on three pillars, namely, access, quality and speed. A reform unit will be established in the Ministry of Justice to spearhead the five-year reform programme. This was decided at the Cabinet Retreat...

Prime Minister P. J. Patterson has appointed Mr. Desmond Hayle, President of the Jamaican Institute of Architects as Chairman of the Sandals Whitehouse Audit Team. Mr. Hayle was on the original team that was appointed by the Prime Minister in November. He has mandated the team to immediately commence their assignment.The Audit Team has been authorized to retain and consult...

The Hanover police will be intensifying efforts to reduce crime in the parish, which was once regarded at the safest place in Jamaica. Superintendent of Police in charge of Hanover, Paul Stanton, told JIS News on Thursday (Jan. 5), that the anti-crime drive started on the first working day of the new year, when a one-day seminar aimed at highlighting...

The Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) will be placing increased focus on its Revenue Protection Programme, which was implemented last August to reduce the number of persons travelling on the buses without paying fares. The programme, which has resulted in more than 20 persons being prosecuted for attempting to ride without paying, ensures the security of passengers by providing them...

The Hanover library service is encouraging greater public use of its branches this year and will be utilizing its mobile book facility, among other services, to reach out to residents. Marvetta Stewart, Senior Librarian at the Hanover Parish Library told JIS News, that while service in the parish was going well, there was always room for improvement. "We have been...

Earthquake Awareness Week will be observed from January 8 to 13 under the theme, 'Prepare Now! Don't Wait.Be Ready for the Next Earthquake'. The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (OPDEM) conceptualised the week in order to fully exploit opportunities to sensitize the Jamaican public about the need to prepare for earthquakes. Speaking at a recent JIS 'Think Tank',...

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) is renewing its call for schools, which do not have earthquake disaster preparedness plans, to put one in place as soon as possible. These plans should include steps to deal with injuries and how the school will take care of children in case their parents are unable to collect them as...

Justice Leighton Pusey has been appointed to act as a Puisne Judge in the Supreme Court. He was sworn in today (January 6) at a ceremony presided over by Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Howard Cooke at King's House. In his brief remarks, the Governor-General extended congratulations to judges serving in Jamaica, noting that they were upstanding models...

Cabinet Ministers are now in retreat to discuss a number of issues ranging from the Proceeds of Crime Act and the setting of the legislative agenda for the remainder of the parliamentary year, to the EU Sugar Protocol, World Cup 2007, investment facilitation and the national shelter and settlement strategy. Minister of Information, Hon. Burchell Whiteman said the Cabinet retreat...

Prime Minister P. J. Patterson has ordered that arrangements for a modern police Headquarters to house the Commissioner of Police and his Principal Officers in a central location are to be completed within the next four weeks. The new headquarters will house a Command and Control Centre equipped with modern technologies to coordinate operations across the island. Cabinet is in...

The Bluefields People's Community Association (BPCA) is reaping success from its information technology project, which targets at risk youth and students of communities in Eastern Westmoreland. "The programme has been doing extremely well", said project chairman Keith Wedderburn, noting that over the past eight months, "we have managed to forge worthwhile relationships with a number of institutions including the National...