‘GET SERIOUS’
Senior cop says thugs mimicking police debriefings, surveillance; calls on businesses to prioritise security
Published:Monday | April 17, 2023 | 12:53 AMRuddy Mathison/Gleaner Writer
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As armed gangsters step up their attacks on businesses that handle large sums of money in St Catherine, the police are appealing to operators to build out their security systems to prevent or repel such attacks. Noting that there is a visible lack...
As armed gangsters step up their attacks on businesses that handle large sums of money in St Catherine, the police are appealing to operators to build out their security systems to prevent or repel such attacks.
Noting that there is a visible lack of alertness and security consciousness in terms of how businesses are operating, Senior Superintendent Christopher Phillips, commander of the St Catherine South Police Division, said this must change, given the organised approach by the thugs.
“Some of the gangs who were rivals are now integrating to carry out the robberies. They are mimicking the police, having debriefings, and carrying out their own surveillance to obtain information on the financial institutions and businesses,” Phillips told The Gleaner.
He observed that the gangs have intelligent minds planning their operations, seemingly someone with military or paramilitary training, who assigns designated functions of driving and shooting to different individuals while using more than one getaway vehicle in their attacks.
“The reality is that the Jamaica Constabulary Force cannot place police officers at the entrance to business establishments to provide security,” said the senior cop.
He was speaking with The Gleaner in the wake of the latest multimillion-dollar robbery in the St Catherine South Division as bandits targeted the Bud’s Service Station in Gutters, Old Harbour, on Saturday.
The 80-year-old businesswoman, a janitor and other employees had just opened the service station about 5:30 a.m., when four men forced their way inside and held them at gunpoint, robbing the establishment of some $24 million in cash before escaping in a waiting motor car.
The robbery follows two high-profile incidents in which gunmen attacked security teams in the process of servicing ATMs in Portmore in St Catherine South in February and March, making off with a combined $33 million in cash.
“Businesses need to get serious about security and stop putting security on the back bench. People must put in place effective security systems. Cameras are going to be useless if people come in your businessplace and you can’t see their faces, so make these things into policies, where you control them,” Phillips advised.
Referencing another armed robbery at a remittance outlet in Mandeville, Manchester, last Thursday in which masked men held up the attendants and escaped with $8 million, the senior police officer said that there was a clear lack of alertness and security consciousness.
“If you look on the operation of those guys entering with masks, hoodies and dark glasses, this should immediately raise an alarm for anyone running a financial institution,” he observed.
“One man come in dressed in a particular kind of facial disguise then another dressed the same way came in minutes after, this should be a red flag right away,” said Phillips.
He argued that there should be a level of control over the movement of people entering these spaces, adding that the police are willing to give assistance in terms of doing security assessments and giving advice for improvements.
Phillips further disclosed that business owners in his division have been asked to put in place a visitor’s book for cops to sign when on patrol to show that they visited the establishments not only to write in the book but, to observe and engage with persons at these locations. He said that senior officers will be checking these logs.