Glenroy Sinclair, Senior Crime Reporter

Traditionally, the women of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) are seen as reserved and, for the most part, out of the spotlight. That image was changed for about 10 minutes Tuesday night, when a 23-year-old woman constable single-handedly took on three gunmen during a robbery attempt in Portmore, St. Catherine.

When the smoke cleared, one of the gunmen was killed and an Intra Tech semi-automatic weapon, along with 21 rounds of ammunition, taken from his body. He has since been identified as Richard Ramsay, 19, of a Christian Pen address in Portmore.

When Ramsay fell to the ground, his two accomplices, who appeared stunned by the constable's agility, fled the scene before other police personnel came to her assistance.

The sturdy woman constable who is attached to the Special Anti-Crime Task Force (SACTF) and has four year's experience in the JCF, told her colleagues that the first thing that flashed across her mind during the confrontation was what she learnt in training.

Tough street cop

"She is a tough, smart, street cop," a member of the SACTF told The Gleaner yesterday.

Reports from the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) are that the woman constable was at a Mitchell Drive address in Portmore when she was approached by three men who pulled guns and demanded money and her cellular phone.

Tuesday's incident occurred a decade after another woman police, who was six months pregnant at the time, took on two robbers at the Windward Road Medical Centre in East Kingston.

"I had gone there to be medically examined when two men came in, one with a gun and the other with a knife, and began robbing the patients. I challenged them, one was killed and the other was apprehended, he was convicted and is now completing a 13-year prison term," said the woman police, who has since been promoted to the rank of inspector.

She was also conferred with the medal of gallantry for bravery. Since January more than 134 women have been murdered by gunmen. The seizure of the Intra Tech 9 weapon has pushed the number of illegal guns seized over the past seven weeks to 56.