By Balford Henry, News EditorTHE ARREST of a juvenile on a criminal charge every 2 1/2 days is worrying the St. Ann police. Superintendent Ray Palmer, commanding officer of the St. Ann Police Division, says that this was a disturbing trend in the parish. Det. Deputy Supt. Wilford Gayle, his crime officer, agrees, saying that while there was no evidence that the parish's figures were worse than other parishes, the growing pattern was a cause for concern.
To tackle perennial social crimes and arrest the climb in the number of young criminals, the St. Ann police are going for a programme of community policing, Supt. Palmer says. "Our major strategy is community policing, whereby the police and the citizens meet identify, prioritise and bring about solutions to the problems," he said.
The police officers made their statements at yesterday's monthly Gleaner Editors' Forum at the Almond Tree Restaurant/Hibiscus Lodge, Ocho Rios, St. Ann. The forum, which is organised by The Gleaner to air the views of leaders of the communities, also heard concerns about other crimes, including burglary, as well as issues such as casino gambling, vending, homeless persons, unattended children on the streets, a breakdown in family life and squatting.
Supt. Palmer boasted that overall crime was on the decrease in the parish. In fact, St. Ann accounted for only five per cent of all crimes reported to the police nationally so far this year.
Its own figures are down 26 per cent so far. But, there were some disturbing trends, he said, and the two most glaring ones were the "prevalence of juvenile offenders" and the incidence of carnal abuse (where an adult has sex with a female under 16 years old, the age of consent).
"We're 85 days into the year and already we've arrested 34 juveniles for offences ranging from illegal possession of firearm to rape, robbery and burglary. What we are saying here is that every 2 1/2 days a juvenile is arrested and it begs the question, 'What is really happening to our parents and what is happening to the guidance they must exercise?'," Supt. Palmer said.
He told The Gleaner after the forum, "Just yesterday we arrested and charged seven juveniles at a children's home for indecent assault. What they did was to use a bottle to insert into the vagina of another girl."
Criminal activities by juveniles were nothing new to both Supt. Palmer and DSP Gayle. They have worked several Kingston inner-city areas, including Hunts Bay, Grants Pen and Kingston Central, between them. But both men yesterday seemed particularly disturbed about the behaviour of some youth in St. Ann.
"I know how important it is for parents to take care of their children and I am also aware that a large proportion of the crimes are committed by people aged 14 to 25; that led me to look at the juvenile offenders," Supt. Palmer said. "These things don't show up normally in the statistics, but I actually looked at the figures and came to that conclusion. These figures were jumping out at me."
In terms of carnal abuse, he said that the 300 per cent increase was frightening, although the actual numbers were not, moving from two last year to eight since this year.
"What is really heart-rending is that quite often the offence is committed by people who are trusted and known by the victim. So what we are actually seeing here is a betrayal of trust and we can't underscore it enough. This kind of offence lives on with the victim. It takes a lot to get the person to live a normal life again. They develop negative behavioural patterns and some are never corrected," the officer said.
DSP Gayle said that the police figures did not tell the full story.
"Most girls don't report sexual abuses. A lot of them think that it is all right, because it is their father or stepfather and he is the breadwinner, and they are afraid to break up their parents' relationship. Some are afraid to approach other people. Sometimes the mothers say that they are lying. We tell them, say it to your teacher, say it to your guidance counsellor, say it to somebody at church or come to us and we're going to deal with it."
He said that the Ocho Rios police were speaking to various agencies in the community to assist them in dealing with the problem.
He said that the fact that Ocho Rios is a north coast tourist town with many parents working at night was not considered a major contributor, as most of the youth involved came from homes where the parents were unemployed.
Supt. Palmer said that his forces were committed to a policy of community policing to deal with the parish's crime problems.
"I believe that if we pursue this policy, everyone will become involved. And, I honestly believe that if we pursue this strategy and get the support of everyone on board then we will succeed in bringing crime down to a tolerable level."
He said that his team had acquired the services of a crime analyst who he expected to assist them in better analysing the problems and finding the causes.
