St. Mary Police Extending Late-Night Traffic Enforcement

The St. Mary Police will be maintaining late-night monitoring of the parish’s roads, aimed at reducing collisions caused by road misuse and breaches of traffic laws during these hours.

Speaking during a recent traffic symposium at the St. Mary Parish Court, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Ricardo Beckford, said that the monitoring exercise commenced in December 2025.

“[Through this] initiative, we actually are out on the roadway… between 12:00 and 4:00 a.m. That’s the time when all the persons who don’t drink responsibly would want to ‘skate on the road’,” he said.

The senior officer added, “We are out there in our numbers trying to reduce the likelihood of collisions, and we will be continuing these operations into 2026. We also plan to have some additional night exercises.”

DSP Beckford revealed that in 2025, the St. Mary Police issued more than 15,000 traffic tickets, while more than 500 collisions were recorded across the parish, 27 of which proved fatal.

“We want to implore road users that you need to be mindful of the way you use these roads, to ensure that we can reduce the likelihood of having fatal collisions,” he urged.

DSP Beckford identified motorists’ failure to keep left, driver distraction, driving under the influence, and excessive speeding as among the leading causes of fatal collisions.

He further outlined additional initiatives that the St. Mary Police will be implementing to strengthen road safety in 2026.

To promote smooth and orderly traffic flow in town centres across the parish, officers will be encouraging the proper use of established transportation centres.

In addition, DSP Beckford indicated plans to increase the number of police officers trained in the use of the digitised Traffic Ticket Management System (TTMS).

The platform enables police officers to issue tickets using a mobile device and printer, with the data instantly uploaded to the centralised TTMS database.

This database is accessible to the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), the traffic courts, and all other government agencies that rely on traffic ticket information.

“As the JCF is transforming, we are improving on our use of technology,” DSP Beckford affirmed.

He also stated that the Police will continue collaborating with the Island Traffic Authority (ITA) and Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) to conduct roadway operations, ensuring that vehicles are roadworthy and compliant with safety standards.

“We want to look at also having CCTV (Closed-Circuit Television) cameras in St. Mary, so we can have greater monitoring, both night and day. It is also our intention to go into the communities, the schools, the churches and into the streets to have our empowerment exercises. We want persons to be more educated on what is expected of them, so we will have a safer St. Mary,” DSP Beckford said.