THE ONE way mirror, which was installed at the Mandeville Police Station in 1993, was broken a few yeas while it was been removed, Superintendent of Police for the Manchester Division, George Quallo has reported.
At a Gleaner Editors' forum held at the Golf View Hotel in Mandeville on January 28, Deputy Superintendent Franklyn Mitchell highlighted that the lack of a one way mirror in the parish has been significantly hampering efforts to further reduce crime in the parish. He was quoted as saying, "we need it (the one way mirror) bad, bad."
In a subsequent news story it was reported that Harry Chin Hing, the Managing Director of Central Glass and Mirror Ltd, had in fact donated a one way mirror to the police in 1993 in response to an appeal by the then police Commissioner Colonel Trevor McMillan for the Mandeville business community to assist the police.
Speaking with The Gleaner on Monday, Mr. Chin Hing confirmed that he had donated and installed a 21" X 6" mirror at the Manchester Police Station.
According to superintendent Quallo, who has been the commanding officer for the parish for almost one year now, the mirror was never used during the period when it was installed, as the identification room in which it was located was not attached to the cell. This, he said, would defeat the purpose of an identification parade, as prisoners would be exposed before they reached the room.
While not able to specify, Superintendent Quallo said a few years after its installation, the mirror was broken while it was being removed from the room during a relocation exercise. The exercise was reportedly in an attempt to better utilise the available space at the station.
Mr. Chin Hing concurred that, years after he had installed the mirror, he received a call from the Mandeville Police requesting his assistance with its removal, as the location was deemed unsuitable. According to him, he pointed out then that he had already donated the material to the police and he did not wish to take it back.
Since then, Mr. Chin Hing said he has not been further informed about the mirror. Meanwhile, the Mandeville police will have to continue to compete with their colleagues in St. Elizabeth and Clarendon to use the one way mirror at the Black River Police Station. Consequently, more postponements of identification parades are likely, as there is a great demand for the use of a one way mirror in the central region.
Superintendent Quallo said several representations have been made to the Ministry of National Security and Justice for an identification room to be set up at the station, however he said there has been no response.
Queries to the Ministry of National Security were referred to the Permanent Secretary, Gilbert Scott, however, he was unavailable when the Gleaner contacted his office. Subsequent attempts proved futile as the phone rang without an answer.
