By Roy Sanford, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
A DETACHMENT of 40 new police recruits has arrived in St. James, to support crime fighting efforts in the parish.
Crime Chief for the parish, Deputy Superintendent Derrick 'Cowboy' Knight, said the new officers would be concentrating mostly on the community related aspects of policing in some of the trouble spots.
"Basically they will be assigned to areas that have been giving us problems over the last few months," DSP Knight told reporters in Montego Bay. "They will be doing mobile patrols, foot patrols, interacting with the public and getting to know the persons who live in the areas."
One of the trouble spots mentioned was Glendevon, which saw a flare up of violence earlier this year which left a number of people dead. In the week of January 19-25, guns barked with alarming regularity in the area, resulting in the death of four persons, including eight-month-old Navaljah Colquhoun, who was shot in the back of the head as he was cradled in his mother's arms.
In addition to those killed, several persons were also shot and injured in a spate of random shootings.
DSP Knight said that the strategy of deployment in the troubled areas is to include at least one-foot patrol of at least five police officers over an eight-hour period. "That would be at least three foot patrols per day," he said. "And these patrols are to include the new officers, officers that know the area and Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) personnel."
DSP Knight said that the deployment of the recruits to the parish will go a long way in reducing the shortage of resources. He also said the police hierarchy has big plans for them. "We have serious plans for the forty and you will see them on the streets every day," he said.
The recruits, who arrived in St. James on Wednesday, were part of the record number who graduated on June 11.
