The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) will be maintaining an increased presence in public spaces during the Yuletide season.   

           “Previously, we would normally be out the first week in December; we have been out since early November because we need to manage our public spaces,”

said SSP Lindsay

She said that a large pool of personnel has been dispatched, including officers operating in non-core roles, plus officers-in-training.

 “We have scaled back on most of our non-operational activities and all those persons are currently out in the streets, so we are seeing a good percentage increase of police presence especially in our public spaces. We are already getting the feedback that people are seeing the increased police presence out there,”

she said. 

           Head of the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB), Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Gary McKenzie, told JIS News that the increased police presence will help to curtail street crimes, including robberies. 

           “We have special teams that are out there that are targeting the criminal elements. We have observed that a number of these robberies are being carried out by motorcyclists and that they are not alone. They usually have pillion riders, some of them armed, and we have intercepted a number of them over the past few weeks and we will continue to work assiduously to rid the streets of those persons,”

he said. 

SSP McKenzie noted that in addition to responding to crime, the police will ensure that traffic flows freely along the roadways.

 “One of the problems that we have at this time of the year is the amount of congestion that exists, especially in business areas. We, as police officers, are doing our best to ensure that we have very few congestion points along the roadways especially in the Corporate Area and other townships,”

he pointed out.