Elite quick response bike squad begins training in Mobay
Some 24 cops drawn from across western Jamaica have been selected to form a quick response team to police in and around montego Bay, commenced a three-week training exercise in the resort city on monday.
A part of the training will involve the riding of motorcycles, which were chosen as the mode of transportation because of their ability to manoeuvre heavy traffic and challenging terrains swiftly.
Speaking at the launch of the training course, the commander of the St James Police Division Superintendent Vernon Ellis, also informed that members of the squad will also be trained in the area of technology.
“We are looking at wireless devices for communication systems, we looking at technology that will allow you to use QR [quick response] phones while you are out there to scan and do your patrol visits. We are looking at these similar QR phones that we will use to map the movement and location of our quick response team, we will also look at the historic picture of the crime situation through the overlays and then we will do the deployment based on the historical nature of what transpires in our city. You won’t just be riding, you are going to be exposed to some technology and we are going to be giving you gadgets that make you an elite team. We are going to give you some proper gear as well,” Superintendent Ellis told the trainees.
He added that the members of the quick response team will also be exposed “to the technology of the firearm assimilated training system because you will be now using the same weapons that you have in a simulation format”.
“So whatever scenario comes to mind or whatever scenario is likely to be played out, out there, we we’ll build these scenarios right here and then we will push you through right here in this training,” the head honcho of the St James police explained.
He charged the participants to take the “training very seriously”.
“You have a big job to secure a city and protect a nation. It’s a mammoth task. But this training will be one of the phases that will equip you to take your policing to our citizens at another level that will support the strategic objective of the JCF [Jamaica Constabulary Force]. Now I have heard about quick response teams, I have seen quick response teams and I want to say our intention is to make an elite quick response team,” Superintendent Ellis argued.
“I want to thank our commissioner of police for equipping us out here in St James the way we are equipped. I must tell you that some very fancy motorcycles with some high-tech gadgets are downstairs (Freeport Police Station) waiting on the completion for you guys to actually do some serious policing with them. So we have been equipped and I must tell you there are quite a few other things that will come with it.”
For his part, Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Homer Davis, who is a former member of the JCF, lauded the establishment of the squad.
“I think it will be a big game-changer. It’s the right way to go, and I think it’s a strategic move that is being made to protect and secure our space,” Davis argued.
However he warned, “I will say to you, in exercising your duty and your responsibility, it is important for you to understand that being out there is a challenging and tough job, but at the same time, you have to temper your responses.