Customer service training coming for St Ann cops

Amid criticisms regarding the police’s response to the general public, commandant for St Ann, SSP Calvin Small, has revealed that come early next year, Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) members in St Ann will undergo training in customer service.

Addressing the monthly meeting of the St Ann Municipal Corporation in St Ann’s Bay on Thursday, Small said the training would be conducted by HEART Trust National Training Agency and will initially target officers who deal with the public inside the police stations, and also those who go on patrol.

It is hoped that the training would then be extended across the board to include all other officers.

No details of the proposed training were available, with HEART Trust National Training Agency responsible for conducting the process.

Complaint from councillor

Councillor for the Exchange division, Ian Isaacs, had complained to Small about how an officer responded to him after he had called a station to report a matter recently, when Small disclosed that a training schedule was already in the works.

Meanwhile, Small said there will be increased police presence in the major towns in St Ann, St Ann’s Bay, Ocho Rios, and Brown’s Town, during the festive season.

New measures will also be implemented next week to alleviate traffic congestion in Ocho Rios whenever two cruise ships are docked in the town. On Wednesday, motorists travelling between Ocho Rios and St Ann’s Bay endured a traffic nightmare, with the journey between the towns taking close to an hour for some, as against the regular 15 minutes or so.

The traffic issue was compounded with trucks transporting marl for export making regular trips to the dock, also affecting the flow of traffic.