Cops move into communities to stem domestic violence
FLORENCE HALL, Trelawny — Following last year’s reduction in murders over the previous year, head of the constabulary’s Community Safety and Security Branch (CSSB), Assistant Commissioner of Police Steve Mcgregor, says his team will be spearheading the charge to further lower the murder tally this year.
Noting that domestic disputes triggered the lion’s share of the 1,287 murders recorded last year, which was 329 fewer than the 1,616 recorded at the end of 2017, the senior cop said the CSSB team will be bombarding communities to nip conflicts in the bud.
“The community safety and security arm of the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) will be the front-runner in the thrust that we will be putting in place to manage crime and violence in our country this year. We have realised that the majority of the murders that we get in Jamaica has genesis within the communities. We have cut down on violent crime, organised crime, but we are getting the domestic-related crimes. And these crimes can only be cut where they start, if we go closer to the communities, which is what we are doing,” ACP Mcgregor said.
“The zones of special operations and the state of public emergency
have given us that calm and tranquillity within the parishes, so it is for our community safety officers to go in now and empower the communities to ensure that they work alongside the police, to police what is happening in our country, so there is hope,” he continued.
The ACP was speaking at the Stonebrook Vista returning residents’ meeting in Trelawny yesterday.
ACP Mcgregor moved to allay fear among the returnees in the wake of recent reports of violence perpetrated against some of their colleagues in sections of the country, pointing out that there is no evidence of any concerted plot to target that group, but noted that “we have a relatively violent society in Jamaica right now”.
“I want to tell you that, from all investigations and research that we have done, there is no organised or any concentrated attacks on our returning residents right now in Jamaica. There is nothing like that happening,” Mcgregor insisted.
In the meantime, Deputy Superintendent of Police Winston Milton, acting commander of the Trelawny Division, assured members of the Trelawny returning residents’ group that there has been little or no report of violent infractions against them in the parish.
“Trelawny isn’t one of those parishes that has been significantly impacted in terms of the crimes being perpetrated against returning residents, particularly violent crimes,” DSP Milton said.
“You couldn’t choose a better place to be than the parish of Trelawny. Right now, as we speak, Trelawny is one of the safest parishes in Jamaica for you to live,” he said.