Lucea mayor: Municipal police not doing anything
Published:Saturday | November 12, 2022 | 12:08 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) Chairman Sheridan Samuels says the cadre of municipal police officers attached to the local authority is not serving its intended purpose in the parish.
While he was delivering the chairman’s welcome at the HMC’s November meeting, Samuels lambasted the six municipal police officers employed by the corporation, declaring that they “are not doing anything”.
Samuels, who is also the mayor of Lucea, was addressing the matter of the unruly use of the corporation’s municipal car park located in the town square, when Deputy Mayor Andria Dehaney-Grant raised the issue of the chaos in the region of Willie Delisser Boulevard and the disregard for all traffic rules in that area.
“We have a serious problem with law and order as it relates to the traffic situation in the town of Lucea, and even beyond the traffic situation, and I am asking again, what is the use of the municipal police personnel that we have within this corporation?” Samuels said.
Emphasising that the municipal police officers have some powers like the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) officers and can work closely with the JCF to effectively carry out their duties, Samuels said the municipal cops were in place to ensure that the traffic arrangements in the town are properly monitored.
“But I can tell you, what we are experiencing here now, the truth is that there is no order, especially on Willie Delisser Boulevard; no order at all. Our municipal police officers that we have just given new uniforms and new boots and everything to [are] not doing one god in heaven thing,” the mayor stated.
He questioned whether the team was being properly managed within the HMC, adding that there is a need for a new look at the roles and cadre of municipal police hired by the HMC.
“My experience is that one particular one does not leave rum bar. Every day, he is in a rum bar. He just comes and signs on to work and leaves for the bar,” Samuels stated, adding that the officers should be dismissed if they are not productive.
Lamenting the take-over of the sidewalks by vendors in the town, leaving no space for pedestrians, despite recent renovation works in the Lucea Market, Samuels argued that the HMC needs to take charge of the situation.
When contacted by The Gleaner, HMC Acting CEO Romeo Daley said he would have to wait until he gets the minutes of the meeting before making a comment.
He hinted that the mater may come up for further discussion and possible action in other subcommittee meetings of the corporation.