By Roy Sanford, Staff Reporter
Norman Wiggan (centre), the Lt. Governor of Zone Nine for the Caribbean District of Optimist Club International, presents a copy of the Optimist Club's creed to Area One crime chief, Assistant Commissioner of Police Linton Latty (left) and Superintendent Newton Amos, the commanding officer for St. James, at a recent ceremony in Montego Bay. - Patrick Campbell/Freelance Photographer
WESTERN BUREAU:
DESPITE REPORTS that major crimes are trending down in St. James, Assistant Commissioner of Police Linton Latty, officer in charge of Area One, still brands the parish 'the most problematic' of the four under his command.
"St. James is the most problematic division in Area One and the hardest to police," said ACP Latty, whose area of command also covers Hanover, Westmoreland and Trelawny. "There are some 16 inner-city communities in the parish and these areas are usually quite difficult to police."
In looking at some of the specific problems facing the St. James police, ACP Latty said situations such as inadequate infrastructure, the large number of informal communities and the heavy volume of human traffic in the major towns were all impacting negatively on the parish.
"The infrastructure situation in the inner-city communities is the major challenge facing the police," said a concerned ACP Latty. "When you get a call and you have to go to an area at night and there are bad road conditions and dark corners, what do you expect? These conditions make it very difficult to properly police these communities."
Based on the latest statistics released by the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), there has been very little improvement in combating major crimes in St. James over the past year. The parish has had 27 murders this year, three more than the 24 for the corresponding period last year. In addition, shooting and rape have also seen slight increases. This year there has been 46 shootings compared to last year's 38 while the incidence of rape is at 31 compared to last year's 21.
Despite Mr. Latty's concern about the crime situation in St. James, he still thinks the parish had had some positives over the past year. According to him, significant improvements have taken place in the areas of police community relations, street vending, especially in Montego Bay and in the area of traffic management.
"You might have observed that the streets of Montego Bay are much more accessible than in previous time," said ACP Latty, in regards to the removal of vendors. "We have finally managed to clear the streets through the co-operation between the Parish Council, the vendors, police and business interests in the city."
In declaring that there is a relationship between crime and vending, ACP Latty pointed to the fact that when the streets of Montego Bay were flooded with vendors, crime escalated. He noted that during the period of high congestion, when a person was robbed, it was usually much easier for the perpetuator to escape into the crowded surroundings.
In looking at some of the strategies under consideration to deal with the crime problem in St. James, ACP Latty said high visibility policing, more uniform police personnel on the road and more raids and roadblocks were among the measures that could yield positive results.
"We need to flood the crime-prone areas with more police personnel because if we don't, crime will get out of hand," ACP Latty said. "We not only need a strong presence of CIB personnel, we need a regular presence of uniformed police on the road. One uniformed police officer accounts for maybe 100 plainclothes policemen."
In regards to the more tolerable situation in the other three parishes in Area One, ACP Latty said the divisional commanders should not sit back and become complacent, as that could prove detrimental. According to him, they need to be proactive as problems could surface at any time.
"Unfortunately the Constabulary Force is not like the Fire Brigade where you respond when there is a fire,"' said ACP Latty. "Policing is proactive and not reactive."
