Lucea police lock-up still closed

WESTERN BUREAU:

The inconvenience of having to transport adult male prisoners from Hanover to

St James for confinement purposes still continues as only minor work has taken place on the Lucea, Hanover, police lock-up since its closure in July 2018.

The deplorable condition of the lock-up, located at the Hanover Police Divisional Headquarters, off Watson Taylor Drive in Lucea, resulted in it being declared unfit to house humans. It was consequently ordered closed for renovation and refurbishing, and the closure was to last between two and three months.

MINIMAL WORK DONE

But six months following the facility's closure, The Gleaner has learned that while a contractor was identified for the project, all that has been done is the bushing of the general area surrounding the cell block.

Police officers from the division, who spoke on condition of anonymity, voiced their disgust at the situation to The Gleaner, pointing to their achievement in curtailing the crime monster in the parish despite what they described as all the odds being against them.

"You can see that the murder figure for 2018 is less than in 2017, and it could be better if we were given the necessary resources to work with," one senior officer told The Gleaner on Wednesday, while also boasting about what he described as the parish's high conviction rate.

Since the lock-up's closure, all males arrested and charged in Hanover have been taken to the Barnett Street Police Station in Montego Bay for detention. The lock-up facilities for females and children in the parish remain the Lucea Police Post in Bustamante Square and the Kingsvale Police Station, respectively.

The risks of transporting the prisoners back and forth between Montego Bay and Lucea for court dates have also been highlighted in the past by concerned police officers.