Crooks steal vests, uniforms, other items from MoBay police facility
Published:Tuesday | April 8, 2025 | 12:08 AMAdrian Frater/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Thieves broke into the police’s Area One Accident Investigation Reconstruction Unit (AIRU) facility on Orange Street in Montego Bay, St James, on Saturday, stealing several items, including a ballistic vest.
The crooks, who were spotted on the compound of the Area One Headquarters, where the AIRU is located, at about 11 a.m, also made off with one police reflectorised vest, one denim uniform shirt, one blue denim service-issued peak cap, two Jamaica Constabulary Force badges, one regulation number (8691), one sergeant chevron, one web belt with holsters containing one handcuff, one metal baton, and one pepper spray. An undetermined number of old uniforms and other items were also found to be missing.
According to reports, a police corporal assigned to the Area One AIRU reported for duty shortly before 11 a.m. He reportedly locked up the building and left the compound.
While he was away, the Area One Control Centre was alerted that men were seen on the compound with ballistic vests and police uniforms in their possession.
“I don’t know how the information was conveyed to control, but as soon as they became aware of what was happening, a team from the St James Quick Response Unit was dispatched to the location, and while they did not encounter anybody, they observed that the building was broken into,” a police source told The Gleaner.
The thieves had gained access to an office by breaking through a window, then proceeded to ransack various sections of the building.
After looting the AIRU office, the thieves turned their attention to a service unit parked on the compound. They broke into the vehicle, ransacked it, and stole a gas card assigned to the unit.
Detectives from the St James division have processed the crime scene, retrieving swabs for DNA and fingerprints from both the AIRU office and the service unit.
The building, which previously housed the Area One Fraud Squad, the human resource department, the Criminal Investigation Branch, and offices for senior officers, now sees limited use, primarily functioning as the AIRU office.