BLACK RIVER, St Elizabeth:

Deputy Commissioner of Police Charles Scarlett has said in recent times, there has been serious trafficking of illegal guns into St Elizabeth, causing scares in almost every community.

"Persons who should be engaging in legitimate fishing are instead importing guns and ammunition into the parish, and that is the crux of the problem where the criminal activities are concerned in this parish. What those people are doing under the disguise of legal activities is really distributing deadly instruments to persons in the community," said Scarlett, while addressing members of the business community at a crime forum in Black River on Thursday.

Scarlett said that serious crimes have been on the increase in the parish and urgent security measures would be put in place to deal with the fallout in the once-peaceful area. He said that the attitude of the police toward the citizens, as well as the attitude of the citizens toward the lawmen, was going to be critical to the fight against crime in the parish.

concerns

Donavan Quest, an ex-police officer, now a businessman, organised the forum, which was held at the Waterloo Guest House.

Some of the concerns shared by the various business interests included, the lack of consistent police patrols, the lack of a coordinated security strategy for the town of Black River and surrounding areas, the lack of night patrols and the length of time it took for the police to respond to calls for assistance.

For his part, commanding officer of the division, Superintendent Howard Francis, said over the last two weeks, the Black River police had been conducting weekend patrols as part of security measures in the parish.

But the business community would have none of it.

According to them, the police needed to do more than just patrol on weekends, as containing crime would take a broad-based security strategy.

Of particular concern during the forum was the Brompton community, in the southwest of the parish, which has become a hot spot and is now being viewed as a breeding ground for criminals. Other problems are Pond Pen, Cambridge, Springvale and New Market.

immigrants

They say that persons coming from places like May Pen in Clarendon, as well as areas in Kingston, were migrating to the parish and contributing to the increase of robberies and break-ins.

Former junior minister in the National Security Ministry, during the People's National Party's (PNP) administration, Carl Miller, who spoke at the forum in his capacity as a defence attorney, blasted some of the police officers for what he described as their high-handed approach toward citizens at times.

He said that a process of trust between the citizens and the police could not be built that way.

The former minister said the police should go back into the communities and build relationships with citizens.

change coming

Area commander for St Elizabeth, Manchester and Clarendon, Assistant Commis-sioner of Police Kingsley Robinson, assured the business community that over the next two months they would see a difference in policing activities in the parish.

Robinson also said he wanted to have regular follow-up meetings with the Black River business community.