Holistic approach needed to address wiper boy problems – ASP Garrick
THE POLICE say that they will continue to ramp up measures to rid the streets of men who make unwarranted offers to clean motorists’ windscreens, and unattached youth at large, but noted that holistic intervention was needed.
Renewed calls for a solution have been prompted by the accidental shooting of a woman while she exited a shopping centre in Liguanea, St Andrew, on Thursday by an off-duty police corporal, who was allegedly pursuing a man who attempted to wipe the windscreen of his car.
“I know from the Half-Way Tree to St Andrew Central police area, they have had several operations, but it’s like a cat and mouse. As you remove them, another set comes or they come back because the fines around breaches are minuscule,” said Assistant Superintendent of Police Dahlia Garrick, who is the acting head of the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Corporate Communications Unit.
Meanwhile, Floyd Green, minister of state with responsibility for youth, disclosed that programmes were available through the HEART Trust/NTA that could equip unattached youth with the tools needed to legitimately make a living,
“It is something that we have been consistently working on. We do have a number of youth who would have started on the road to self-improvement [and] have now gone into skills training and are no longer on the road,” noted Green.
He continued, “Some of them come, they leave, and some, even though you put the offers out there, they are unwilling.”