By Balford Henry, News EditorTHE LACK of a one-way mirror for identification parades is one of the main problems hampering the Mandeville police's efforts to reduce crime in the parish.
According to Deputy Superintendent Franklyn Mitchell, "we need it bad, bad in Manchester".
DSP Mitchell made the plea at The Gleaner's Editors' Forum at the Golf View Hotel, Caledonia Avenue, Mandeville, yesterday, which addressed various economic and social problems hampering the mid-island town and was attended by a large group of people from various sectors of the community.
He said that many witnesses were afraid to point out criminals to their face, but were willing to co-operate with the identification parade if a one-way mirror was used. However, there is no such mirror at the Mandeville station and police there have to compete with those in St. Elizabeth and Clarendon to use the one in Black River.
"Three parishes have to use the one mirror and sometimes when we go there it is being used and we have to return to Mandeville and postpone the parade," he explained at the forum.
Postponing ID parades because of the lack of a mirror means more discomfort to the witness, who will have to find the time to travel to Black River again, hoping that it will be available, as well as the suspect who sometimes is innocent but has to spend two to three weeks in jail waiting for a parade to be held.
"We had an ID parade yesterday (Monday) and when we went to Black River there was no room available, so we had to take both the prisoner and the witness back to Mandeville and postpone the parade," said DSP Mitchell.
The lack of ID parades in Mandeville is also contributing to the already serious transportation problem at the station. The station is extremely short of vehicles, according to sources there, and the situation is not being helped by the need to make frequent trips to Black River for the ID parades.
But, despite the problems, the Manchester police have been making efforts to curb crime in the parish. According to their records, murders went down from 27 in 2001 to 25 in 2002, despite it being an election year, and robberies went down by three from 90 in 2001 to 87 last year. But, there was still a concern about rape, of which 31 were recorded last year.
However, the police are satisfied that they have the support of the people of the town. "We are getting a lot of co-operation from the public. The community here is really supportive," said DSP Mitchell.
Members of the business sector, including those attending yesterday's forum, as well as motorists, have complained bitterly about the traffic jams in the town which are attributed to the lack of mobility of the police. At one point there was only one functioning motorbike available to the traffic division.
The Mayor of Mandeville, Horace Williams, also expressed concern about the situation which, he says, frustrates the Manchester Parish Council's strategies to ease congestion in the town.
Officers at the station were upset that none of the new motor cars recently acquired by Ministry of National Security were sent to the town.
But, in the midst of the problems, the Manchester Police Division (11 police stations in all) kicked off its police courtesy week on Sunday with a programme of activities geared at improving community/police relations.
There was a public forum at Zorn Moravian Church in Christiana last night where members of the public shared some of their problems and aired views on how to improve police/community relations. Today is their workday at the Mandeville Infirmary and Home for the Indigent in Hatfield, where the police will help in repair and clean-up efforts and tomorrow they will host a treat for children at the Percy Junor Hospital and the Mount Olivet Boys' Home.
Commanding officer for the parish, Superintendent George Quallo, is especially proud of his traffic initiative which, he says, is bearing fruit.
The initiative encourages offenders with traffic warrants (who have many tickets and by law should be taken into custody on sight) to work with the police to make themselves available to go through the court process and avoid an overloading of the jail cells.
"This has worked very well," Supt Quallo said. "We've had a rapid decline in the amount of outstanding warrants."
He attributed the decline in murders to an intervention technique which addresses domestic issues (most of the murders are domestic related) before they develop into crimes.
The Mandeville Station holds a devotion service each Friday in the station's car park and is expected to be one of the next stations to be renovated to facilitate a customer-friendly atmosphere and where every member will be trained in customer service.
"We see the public as our customers," Supt. Quallo said.
