Monique Hepburn, News Editor
Constable Dalia Kelly-Hyatt of the Sandy Bay Police Station in Hanover is overcome with emotion after she was promoted to the rank of corporal by Commissioner of Police Lucius Thomas, at the St. John's Methodist Church Hall in Montego Bay, St. James, yesterday. More than 60 members of the Area One Police Division, comprising St. James, Trelawny, Westmoreland and Hanover, were promoted. - PHOTO BY MONIQUE HEPBURN
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE HIGHLY successful Operation Kingfish is moving to prosecute 11 persons who have been identified as taking part in illegal activities. Commissioner of Police Lucius Thomas made the announcement at an Area One Police Division promotional exercise in Montego Bay yesterday.
"Eleven persons have been identified and they will end up like Joel Andem and Richie Poo with 80-90 years in jail," said Commissioner Thomas. "They are not untouchables and we will get them. The files we have are far advanced and we will be proceeding to the courts soon."
"We have reeled in some big fish and we will be going after some bigger ones," he said. "We have worked on our intelligence and we will be working on our capabilities even more. More and more Jamaicans are assisting us, and we will be reaping the rewards."
More than 60 persons from the division, which comprises St. James, Hanover, Westmoreland and Trelawny, were promoted - a total of 20 sergeants and 40 corporals. Mr. Thomas, however, warned the officers that the new promotions would not provide an avenue for laziness in the division.
PROFESSIONALISM IN THE FORCE
"If you have been promoted it is not a cool shade tree to go under in order to avoid the streets," he said. "The promotions will provide better management and leadership on the streets. There will be more stripes among those young men and women and that will lift the professionalism in the force."
The commissioner later met with members of the Montego Bay business community at the Sunset Beach Resort and Spa, and heard concerns about a need to augment the current number of police personnel on the streets of the city and the entire parish by extension. He promised to provide additional personnel to work in resort towns throughout the entire winter season.
