By Andrew Green, Staff Reporters
Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica president Oliver Clarke (right), converses with Deputy Commissioner of Police Tilford Johnson at a job creation awards ceremony at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston yesterday. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
FOR THE core of the capital city the police are pushing ahead with a new crime fighting initiative, says Deputy Commissioner Tilford Johnson.
This would provide Kingston businesses with a programme similar to Neighbourhood Watch but tailored for them, he said. This is one of the crime fighting measures he discussed with The Financial Gleaner at the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) employment creation awards ceremony at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in Kingston yesterday.
"They are all over the island," the deputy commissioner said of the Business Watch groups. "There is a particularly strong one in St. Ann."
Starting more than a year ago, area commanders have been encouraged to establish interactive ways of communicating with the business community, he said. This included forming a Business Watch group in their area. Somewhat similar to the Neighbourhood Watch, it involves getting business people to form a group that interacts on a regular basis with the police. He said the members know they have a list of police telephone contact numbers with the people they can call on, when they experience any problem.
"We are seeking to get a movement in Downtown Kingston," he said. "That is being actively pursued. It should be up and running in a short period of time."
Asked why one had not been formed in Kingston before, he said, "We are not quite sure, but we are redoubling our efforts to have it done."
Business Watch is one of several measures used to disrupt criminal activities, he said. Another new initiative is the co-operation agreement with security guard companies also started over a year ago.
"It has been working,' deputy commissioner Johnson said. "It gives us additional eyes and those eyes are helping to inform you of things that are not what they should be."
And responding to the news that the government's financial crunch is threatening the survival of the tourist resort patrol, he said, "We are prepared and we have the resources to deal with these areas."
The police recognised the importance of tourism and would do what was needed to combat harassment, he said. The same was true for the island's key commercial areas.
For the core of the capital city, a new initiative has been launched involving "much improved and increased police activity," he said. The result is that, "there is much more activity, there is much more movement and to my mind there is less apprehension on the part of persons who do business there."
Similar tactics have been employed in commercial areas across the island, involving increased mobile and foot patrols.
But for these measures to have increased effect, the police are seeking the full co-operation of businesses in these areas, the deputy commissioner said. And one key issue for some areas is the problem of extortion.
"It is commonly spoken of, but most seem to be in denial about extortion," he said. "We have to try our utmost to overcome that hurdle."
For the wider public, the police high command was also fully aware of the concerns about "the conduct of our members," he said. "So a deliberate step was taken to ensure that we bring this to the fore of our members before the operations started."
These strategies were being recommended from some time ago. But additionally, he said, "We have always sought to influence those in authority that the enforcement aspect alone will not work."
There has to be a social side to any police initiative, he said. "Well, that social aspect has kicked in."
In conjunction with the change in policing tactics, measures have been put in place to bring some social relief to inner-city areas to improve relations between the police and citizens.
"We emphasise the importance of partnership," he said. The police will not succeed in their task without collaboration with social partners.One good partner has been the PSOJ, he said. The organisation had assisted police efforts over the past year and he said, "We are grateful for their support." The effects of these initiatives to build partnerships and improve policing tactics will take some time to fully materialise, but so far he said, "the results we have been seeing are heartening."
There has been a decline in major crimes over last year with homicide down 8 per cent, the equivalent of 85 fewer murders, he said. Robberies are down and rape and carnal abuse have also declined. There is a slight increase in shootings, "but it is occurring just a few divisions," the deputy commissioner said.
The crime indictors suggest there should be further improvements in the crime statistics in the months ahead, he said. "We are in it for the long haul."
