BY RACQUEL PORTER
Observer staff reporter—
COMMANDING officer for the Kingston Eastern Police Division Victor Hamilton says he is disappointed that residents in some “hot spots” have failed to share information with the police, despite helping to resolve conflicts and being there for them.
Superintendent Victor Hamilton said he believes that residents were not passing on information to the police because some were the beneficiaries of criminal proceeds.
“… There are too many of our residents, especially in the inner-city areas and some squatter settlements, who depend on the proceeds of crime for the lowest level of economic survival…” Superintendent Hamilton told the Jamaica Observer.
He argued that it’s just a matter of time before those who chose withheld certain information from the police will become victims of crime themselves.
“We have gangs forming in communities; it is not political and is not a turf war. It is just the mindset of the youths. We have many uneducated youths around and we try to keep meetings [to help and encourage them], but the challenge is with persons not being able to reason out their issues,” said the police superintendent.
He said, too, that it would appear that some people in the division have easy access to weapons. “The hardest thing for us is for somebody to give us information that there is a gun here, a man here, and a man there,” Hamilton said.
“Mothers know the activities of their children, spouses know the activities of their partner, you know what I mean — it is kind of hard, but we are working, we are making the appeals and we won’t stop,” he said.
Last year Rockfort and Mountain View — communities in the Kingston Eastern Police Division — were rocked by several bouts of violence as a result of conflicts between criminal outfits in the division. At that time, a number of residents complained that the lack of police presence in the communities created an opportunity for criminals to easily carry out their activities.
“We call 119 ’till we tired and nobody nah come, so weh we fi do… go outside di door, go look fi who out there a do it?” one elderly resident was reported as saying last year to shouts of approval from people who had gathered around him.
“If them not protecting us, then who a go protect we? Everybody a run lef’ dem yard and dem (gangsters) move out the furniture out a the house and carry it gone a fi dem yard,” the elderly resident stated.
It was concerns like that of this elderly resident that pushed the police to increase activities in troubles communities within the division.
According to Superintendent Hamilton, despite the challenges that the terrain poses, the police have maintained a presence in Pleasant Heights, Jarrett Lane and Oliver Road, which have been identified as hot spots.
The police superintendent said his officers have not identified anything to show that feuding residents from rival communities wanted to come together in a genuine manner to make peace.
“My disappointment, too, is that we have [members of our] Community Safety and Security Branch here doing tremendous work, trying to get people to be more loving and more peaceful within the community, [but they are still not getting the desired results]. Some of the meetings are very well attended and we make the appeals; however, one of the things that is worrying for me personally is that when persons come to these meetings the only thing that they asked about is party, party, permit,” he said. “The residents only want parties.”
Superintendent Hamilton explained that he had gone to business operators in the past and secured jobs for residents who eventually quit because they were too tired to go to work after attending a party.
He has vowed, however, to continue working to have peace in the division despite the lack of cooperation.
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