Detainees safe and secure at Black River Police Station
Published:Saturday | November 1, 2025 | 12:11 AMTiffany Pryce/Gleaner Writer
Despite extensive flooding and structural damage across St Elizabeth, no detainees were harmed at the Black River Police Station during the passage of Hurricane Melissa, which battered the parish beyond recognition.
Superintendent of Police Coleridge Minto, commanding officer for St Elizabeth, confirmed that all detainees under his supervision are safe.
“We have over 60 inmates that are safe. I personally made sure that they ate for the two days the concessionaire was down and thankfully they recently resumed,” said Minto.
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica earlier this week, leaving a trail of destruction in the southern parishes, including washed-out roads, severely damaged hospitals, and widespread power outages. St Elizabeth has been among the hardest hit, with several communities cut off from communication.
Minto noted that the storm had severely disrupted operations at the station as he had to bring his personal Star Link connection so people could communicate with their families. That was no longer an option when the generator crashed that evening.
“We are out of communication from the world without these resources. It is going to be extremely difficult without electricity because this is where people are coming to see a way of communicating,” he said.
“A lot of the police report in the areas they live in because we can’t communicate with them.”
Despite the circumstances, he said the parish remained relatively stable in relation to crime.
“St Elizabeth has been doing well in terms of crime. We have the lowest numbers in murders in 25 years,” Minto told The Gleaner.
He added that there were a few isolated incidents of disorder in the aftermath of the storm.
“We just arrested two men for disorderly conduct. They were looting and then creating a dispute,” he said, noting that the men were later released.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Calvin Allen, who toured the affected areas on Thursday, described the scene as catastrophic.
REAL-LIFE DEVASTATION
“What you’re seeing on the ground is, this is not a scene of a movie that is created. This is real-life devastation in the parish of St Elizabeth, and more so Black River,” said Allen.
“To hear about it is one thing; to witness it for yourself, as I have just done and still doing, is something else. And it leaves one to just be thankful.”
He commended the officers for their resilience and resourcefulness amid the destruction.
“SP Minto and his team have been here from over the weekend and have not left, they have created a makeshift kitchen and some makeshift bathrooms so that they can fresh up themselves to continue to serve,” Allen shared.
He added that both the police headquarters and the wider Black River community have been inundated.
“You can see the headquarters station here. You can see the damage. And so the basic offices and personnel that would normally give the different police services they are now part of the team that is dealing with mopping up and cleaning up so that at least there can be some semblance of service to the public,” he said.
The senior officer said reinforcements were being deployed to support recovery efforts.
“The support has started to be mobilised to get outside assistance in St Elizabeth, especially Black River,” Allen said.
Minto also confirmed that both the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) have increased their presence in the area to maintain order and assist residents as cleanup operations continue.