Sergeant Robert Pearson assists a member of a West Kingston community.
THE JAMAICA police force entered McKoy Lane and other areas of southern and western Kingston on a crime reduction mandate last year.
An unexpected result has been the assistance given to many poor, older residents with many needs, chief among them the needs to see the doctor a luxury few could afford.
Outlook visited the FISH clinic on Gordon town road recently, and found there nine residents of McKoy Lane and Payne Land clustered in a waiting room, waiting patiently to see the 'eye' doctor.
They had been taken there by Sergeant Robert Pearson from the Mobile Division, who has been working in the Kingston 11 area since November of last year. This was the month in which the curfew was established for southern and western areas of Kingston where the crime rate is the highest in the island.
Sergeant Pearson explained to Outlook that care for the elderly and general community policing policies, with special attention to social needs, is one vigorously pursued aspect of the crime reduction plan for the south and western areas of Kingston under curfew.
The sergeant said that he was just one member of a team lead by Deputy Commissioner Lucien Thomas and SSP Bingie White who visited one local church on McKoy Lane last year to find out how the Force could help.
"We asked them what they wanted. Most of the elderly people, including Gloria Whittingham, pastor and members of the depressed community, agreed there was an urgent need to have their eyes checked," he recalls.
At the FISH clinic, where they were taken, they were to get prescription glasses for their eyes and much more.
According to Dr. Moses Uwudiae, ophthalmologist there on the day Outlook visited, "My real concern is diabetes. Every elderly patient who comes in is sent to be tested for diabetes and hypertension. Many develop complications associated with these diseases."
So, many of the residents from McKoy Lane and Payne Land were treated for diabetes and hypertension, some for the first time.
Hazel Tomlinson, aged 67, is grateful for the medical help, though she has on her agenda much more. She cannot afford to buy food, she said. She feels hunger many days. "First time I used to do a little selling, but now, nothing." Her daughter, a street sweeper, helps a little, but her earnings can do so much and no more.
The pastor of the McKoy Lane church, Mrs. Gloria Whittingham, who was also at the clinic getting attention, told Outlook that she is happy for the new glasses that she will be getting, but she also has a long wish list.
She has shown the police her roof which is leaking and her empty coffers.
For the wider McKoy Lane community, she wishes the authorities would come in and authorise the installation of electric light. "We have to be using illegal light. The place harbours thieves and criminals." She, however, is thankful for small blessings, which so far the presence of the police in areas like Mckoy Lane and Payne Land has proved to be. Sergeant Robert Pearson says that the aim of the Force is to change the community perception of the police. Children, especially, he says, are a priority.
"They see the police as the enemy." The police have adopted the Tavares Gardens basic school, "Where we hope to let them see a different side of the police. Even the older people have this view of the police where they only see us as people who come to kick off their door," the Sergeant notes.
"We are working with the Ministry of Social Security to identify and serve some of their needs. There is a lot to be done in Kingston 11," he states.
Other projects embarked on in the community include garbage removal. Using a 30-cubit truck and a backhoe owned by the police, last week, members of the force took 60 loads to Riverton dump.
Over the Christmas season, the police also provided Christmas trees. They continue to be in attendance at Sunday school meetings in the area. The RGD have also come into the community. "You would be surprised to know how many children are not registered, not christened. Many things need to be attended to, on the social side," the police Sergeant Pearson said.
But, in the meantime, residents are grateful. Hazel Tomlinson told Outlook "I feel happy and I am thankful that the police are interested in us."
- Avia Ustanny
