St Ann business operators urged to work with the police

Head of the St Ann police, Senior Superintendent Calvin Small, is calling on the business community to work more closely with the police to safeguard their operations against criminal activity.

He made the appeal at a meeting of the St Ann Chamber of Commerce at the Port Rhoades Complex in Discovery Bay last Thursday.

The senior superintendent said that while the police have been making strides in combating criminality, greater support was needed on the part of business owners.

He encouraged the business operators to increase their vigilance in order to protect themselves from becoming victims of crime.

“Some of the things that we want to encourage the business community to do is to be on the alert at all times. We want you to practise target hardening. We want you to put up good closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras. I think sometimes, when we go to the scene [of an incident], what hampers our investigators is that the cameras are there, but the quality of the images are just not good enough,” he noted.

He further advised the business operators to train their staff “in security awareness” and establish security networks among themselves.

Meanwhile, the senior superintendent said that the St Ann police have been maintaining a strong presence in major towns.

“We try to dominate the areas where we have issues. As far as the policing district is concerned, Ocho Rios is the main area of activities. Out of 235 majors crimes so far this year, Ocho Rios is featuring with 94, followed by St Ann’s Bay, 48, and Brown’s Town, 23,” he noted.

He said that the police have also increased their presence in Steer Town and Parry Town following a recent upsurge in gun violence in the communities.