The relationship between the police and residents in communities including Tivoli Gardens, Denham Town and Hannah Town has improved to the point where the decades-old antagonism is no more.

In the not-too-distant past, police entering communities such as Tivoli Gardens had to be heavily armed and prepared to defend themselves.

For residents, the sight of members of the security forces entering their community sent them cowering in fear with bad memories of several violent incidents.

But when The Sunday Gleaner team visited Tivoli Gardens last week, there was an unmistakable sign of camaraderie as uniformed policemen sat under a tree, obviously at ease, as they chatted with men and women who appeared just as comfortable.

"We are working well together," said a young man, who sat on a bench in Tivoli Gardens. "They don't bother us and we talk much better."

The relationship is such that two of the seven fires that devastated sections of west Kingston in recent weeks sparked generous reaction from the policemen and women who serve under Senior Superintendent Terrence Bent, who heads the Kingston Western Police Division.

"There was a fire at Chestnut Lane and another on Victoria Street, and the police were able to get corporate Jamaica to give citizens schools supplies - including bags to and books to students - who were affected," declared Bent.

Consultative committee

"In terms of Tivoli Gardens and the wider Denham Town area, the police have established a broad-based consultative committee, comprising all communities in the Kingston Western Division," added Bent.

"This (consultative committee) is intended to create communication around issues of police-civilian conflicts where the police can make complaints about the citizens, and vice versa," Bent explained.

Bent told The Sunday Gleaner that the committee has established a sophisticated communication link with all the schools in the area, that's yielding positive results. "Our school-security committee has formally established a contract of sorts between the citizenry and the police and school community to engender that communication, so initiatives and lectures will be given legal stature.

He said there is also the regular committee meetings in which the police and the citizens meet to discuss issues of interest to the community.

Bent disclosed that the youth groups in the wider Kingston Western Police Division are being activated to play a part in the relationship building process.

"There is the Western Kingston Council that includes all the youth clubs in the western Kingston division, including Trench Town and Arnett Gardens; Tivoli and Denham Town; and the police sit on that council to look at issues relating to youth, community and police.

"We have been able to get support and sponsorship from outside the community for these youth initiatives," said Bent. "There is a channel of communication that has evolved and we intend to enhance it."

Bent echoed the sentiments of the west Kingston residents that petty theft is rife but he said the police have been able to arrest some of the main culprits.

gary.spaulding@gleanerjm.com