St. Thomas Police and Event Promoters Unified for a Safer Parish

Event promoters in St. Thomas are vowing to work with the police to help amplify the message against domestic violence in the parish, and to play their part in ensuring that events are safe and violence free.

On February 25, Commanding Officer for the St. Thomas Division, Deputy Superintendent (DSP) Rohan Ritchie convened a meeting at the Morant Bay Police Station, where he met with approximately 50 promoters.

“We brought them here to develop a stronger partnership with them because we believe that they have a voice, and their voice can help us to treat with the existing problems we’re having with domestic violence, that sometimes play out on the streets and play out at parties,” DSP Ritchie said.

“We need more voices, because we can’t be everywhere and what better set of voices to get than those who draw an audience in the entertainment industry,” he added.

The Commanding Officer reminded the promoters that patrons at their events are to be unarmed and must be of age. There is also to be compliance with the Noise Abatement Act, as well as other public health and safety requirements.

In addition, he urged the event organizers to use their platforms to make public appeals for the peaceful resolution of interpersonal conflicts and to advocate for a safer St. Thomas.

Among the promoters present was Orette McDowell who told JIS News that he “fully supports” the initiative of the Superintendent to enlist the partnership of the promoters in keeping their events and the parish safe.

Similarly, Joseph Beckford said he left the meeting with increased clarity.

“He has made it clear to us that it is not his intention to shut us out, but just to help us and for us to help him so we can curtail crime and violence within the party space and within our communities. I am comfortable with the way he delivered the message to us, and I appreciate him wanting to work with us. So, we are going to work with him, and I am happy that he took the time out to do this with all the promoters including myself,” Mr. Beckford said.

Ryan Dixon said he attended the meeting to ensure full legal compliance ahead of his upcoming event in March.

“It is important to understand what is legally required for hosting an event. We want to be compliant, we want to ensure the safety of our patrons and that we are adding to value to the parish,” Mr. Dixon said.

He told JIS News that his main takeaways are, “the reiteration of the importance of ensuring that the party promoters are doing the proper checks, putting the proper measures in place, and ensuring that the patrons are coming to a safe environment.”

Mr. Dixon hailed the direction of the new Superintendent to give a listening ear to the promoters and to ensure a “united effort” between both promoters and police officers.

“I really appreciate it and I respect it to the utmost. The Morant Bay police station didn’t need to do this. They could have left the party promoters up to their ignorance and expect us to do our due diligence on our own in knowing what is required of us,” he stated.

“However, they have gone above and beyond to ensure the interaction with us the promoters of the events to make sure that we know what is required of us and that we are doing our part to advance the welfare of this parish,” he added.

In the meantime, DSP Ritchie said that consultation and partnership will be key components of his leadership of the division.

“We are of the people, we are from the people, and we intend to develop this partnership so that we can collaborate. There can be strong cooperation, we can exchange notes in terms of information, and we can work together,” he said.

He added that “the reality is that these citizens are our bosses, we are their servants. We need to partner with them so that we can serve them better.”