By Damion Mitchell, Staff ReporterMAJOR CRIMES have been reduced significantly in the community of Tivoli Gardens and other areas in western Kingston, the Denham Town police said, but the area still battles with the perception of being violent.
"There are many persons out there who believe that the community of Tivoli Gardens is impenetrable," said Deputy Supt. Gary Griffiths, "but one of most serious challenges as a nation that of preserving lives is no longer a very serious concern in the Kingston Western Police Division."
He was speaking on Saturday at the launch of the Presidential Click Police Youth Club the fifth in western Kingston at the Tivoli Gardens Community Centre.
According to the Denham police, there have been 44 cases of murder in western Kingston since the start of the year, compared to 60 for the similar period in 2002.
Shootings have decreased from 100 last year to 51 this year.
However, 23 cases of sexual offences, one more than last year, were reported to the police.
DSP Griffiths said that Tivoli Gardens residents were no longer as fearful of the criminal elements. "This is saying volumes of the relationship between the police and the citizens," he said, adding that "it is clear and we are now satisfied that the repressive way of policing is not the way forward but (instead) a more gentle and humanitarian form of policing."
Edward Seaga, the JLP leader and MP for Western Kingston, said the partnership between the police and the citizens was a positive move. "When you have to go to somebody else, it is not the same as when you go to the police so let us make the bygones be bygones and move to the future," Mr. Seaga said.
He said that prior to the western Kingston unrest in the 1970s there were 20 youth clubs with more than 1,000 members. However, the violent flare-ups had ripped apart the peace of the community.
Mr. Seaga said that the police presence in Tivoli Gardens would assist in dispelling the myth that development was impossible in that community. "Hopefully, we will have no more fights and it will be peace from here on," he said.
Natalee Petgrave, a club member, was pleased with the partnership being developed between the police and the residents. "There was a lot of stigma attached to our community and right now it is looking a whole lot better," she said.
In years past, the police would be met with opposition from residents when they tried to enter the community "but right now things are just calm and we really love that," Ms. Petgrave told The Gleaner.
Ricky Thompson, another clubbite, said, "This is uplifting for the community but we have to carry through the plan to keep the peace with other communities."
