St Bess police want to replicate Vineyard success in other districts
Published:Monday | July 15, 2024 | 12:05 AMAdrian Frater/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
With no major crimes in Vineyard, St Elizabeth, in the three months since two curfews and other social intervention programmes were used to restore order, the police are now looking to replicate that success in other communities with the potential for violence.
At last week’s meeting of the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation (StEMC), Superintendent Coleridge Minto, the police commander for the parish, spoke glowingly of the policing success in Vineyard.
He said that strategies are developed in accordance with what is happening in the parish’s 301 districts, which are served by 11 police stations.
“In April, I reported here that we had two curfews in Vineyard, where we were having some challenges,” said Minto. “The last curfew ended on April 12, and since then, we have had no major crimes. We held several community meetings and we have even had a football match between the community and the Black River police.”
Minto credited the improved relationship between the police and the community, which is being supported by political representatives, church groups, justices of the peace and community members in general, for the prevailing peace, noting that the residents are pleased.
“Since the 28th of March, when we had the last violent incident in Vineyard, we have not had any other reported incidents of shooting, murders or any other major crimes,” said Minto. “This tells me that the people of Vineyard want peace in their community. What we want to do now is to replicate what is happening in Vineyard in other communities.”
Among the communities being targeted by the police are Elim, Braes River and Nain.
Minto said all the communities have been quite receptive to the police, which he sees as an indication that they appreciate what is being done to make their communities safe.
“St Elizabeth has recorded 114 major crimes since 2024. This compares to 156 for the comparative period up to June 9 last year, which is a 27 per cent reduction,” said Minto.
“Since June, we have recorded just one murder; the victim came over from Westmoreland and was shot and killed. In June 2023, we had five murders, with four occurring after a jailbreak on June 19.”
In breaking down the murder statistics for this year, Minto said they primarily stemmed from conflicts, robbery, reprisals and lottery scamming.
“The breakdown shows 41 per cent was as a result of conflicts, 12 per cent as a result of robberies, 18 per cent as a result of reprisals, 12 per cent lottery-scamming relating, and the remainder we have not attributed,” said Minto, who hopes the decline in major crimes will continue through the second half of the year.