Denise Reid, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Following the announced transfer of Superintendent Steve McGregor, the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce will be requesting that a greater level of consultation with the community be done before such moves are effected.

"I feel strongly that the Jamaica Constabulary Force hierarchy needs to revisit this whole business of transferring officers ever so often," Lloyd B. Smith, president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce, told The Gleaner on the weekend.

'Musical chairs scenario'

Smith denounced the practice of constantly transferring officers from the area one police division, particularly St James, describing it as a "musical chairs scenario".

It has been less than two years since McGregor was transferred from St Thomas to St James in a move to curb the rapidly increasing crime rate in the northern parish.

During his tenure in St James, he implemented several programmes in the hope of curtailing the crime problem dogging the parish.

One such project was the gangster rehabilitation programme, which receives funding from the business community. Its aim is to see delinquent students rehabilitated and re-introduced to schools.

McGregor is to be replaced by Superintendent Maurice Robinson, who will be leaving Westmoreland to take up the new post.

Smith, however, raised doubts about whether there would be a smooth transition for Robinson to his new post.

"There's a lot of intelligence and information that I'm sure Superin-tendent McGregor will have at his fingertips. I don't think a new man coming in will be able to just hit the ground running. It's going to take a while before he can effectively get a full grasp of the situation and be able to do something about it," said Smith.