St. James Police Division Prepares for Back to School
By: , August 26, 2025
Photo: Nickieta Sterling
Head of the St. James Police Division, Senior Superintendent of Police Eron Samuels.The Full Story
The police will be increasing their presence in St. James to ensure public safety and smooth traffic movement, as the new school year begins on Monday, September 1.
Head of the St. James Police Division, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Eron Samuels, told JIS News that traffic congestion was a major concern, while noting officers will be deployed to major routes to ease congestion when schools reopen.
“That’s our main concern with the back-to-school period, early morning and evening traffic. So, we ensure that we have our traffic team out in the space,” he stated.
SSP Samuels further stated that the upcoming general election and rollout of the school bus system will require a strategic approach to deploying officers and managing traffic.
“We’ll have elections coming for the first week, and also now with the school bus rollout, that will be something that we’d love to pay some keen attention to in terms of how our resources are deployed,” he stated.
He also informed that School Resource Officers (SROs) will be actively conducting check-ins on schools, while also providing patrols for schools without dedicated SROs.
A SRO is a police officer, who is placed in a school to help maintain and sustain discipline. Specifically, the SRO is responsible for identifying troubled and disruptive students and bringing them to the attention of the school’s administration.
Meanwhile, SSP Samuels shared safety tips to encourage students and their parents for the back-to-school period.
He urged students to exercise caution in choosing transportation, while advising that they should “avoid elements of criminal groupings in school” that can potentially affect performance.
He also encouraged parents to stay informed about their children’s movements.
“We want them to ensure that they’re paying keen attention to their kids in terms of departure and arrival at school, or departure and arrival at home. If it is possible, utilise technology to track the kids,” SSP Samuels stated.