ENCOURAGING SIGNS of positive police activity have begun to emerge to counterbalance the bleak statistics of crime topped by an alarming murder rate. And even in this latter category National Security Minister Peter Phillips contends that the trend is declining.
The most hopeful reports describe a rebound from the horrific toll of seven murders in January in the 100 and Park Lane communities off Red Hills Road in St. Andrew. The Community Relations section of the Constant Spring Police Station has been meeting with residents, initiating skills training and finding jobs for young people.
The Red Hills Road business community supports the police initiatives which include a skills bank and a Boy Scout programme. The Constant Spring station is also in the process of adopting the Mount Olive Basic School on the border of both communities.
Elsewhere, in the St. Andrew South Police Division, a community policing initiative was launched in January as the centrepiece of the Commissioner's Corporate Strategy. The objective was to promote co-operation between police and people to solve crime problems and all manner of social decay. Activity has ranged from a lunch money programme for needy students to counselling on the law and on legal rights and responsibilities. Police have maintained a presence around schools and instituted searches for knives and other weapons.
The Division which used to have one of the highest homicide rates in the island is now reporting declines in murders, shootings, robberies and break-ins.
In the overall crime picture, Minister Phillips, while citing declines in the murder rate and other offences, concedes that the absolute murder toll is too high. He also said that with domestic violence accounting for one-third of the murders a series of youth dialogues would start next month in the National Arena.
All these efforts to transform the image of the police can be shattered by the next controversial police killing; one such was the tragic fatal shooting of a seven-year-old boy. We hope that the Scotland Yard initiative, for example, can make a difference in enhancing the professional skills of policemen at every level.
