Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter
Arrests of dons deterring crime wave, says DCP Mark Shields. - RICARDO MAKYN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER of Police Mark Shields is predicting a reduction in the murder rate next year, based on current trends in certain police divisions.
"I think we'll have a much better 2006 than we had in 2005," DCP Shields, who heads the crime portfolio, told business executives attending the quarterly Jamaica Employers Federation (JEF) breakfast at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston yesterday.
Cognisant that the murder toll already has surpassed last year's total of 1,471, DCP Shields cautioned that "to talk about success (of new policing methods) would be completely inappropriate, arrogant and wrong." However, he cited the police divisions of St. Catherine North, St. Andrew South and Kingston Eastern as success stories where 'hot spot' policing - involving the more efficiently and effectively deployment of police - had reduced crime.
ULTIMATE DETERRENT
The crime chief cited New York City as an example where "police on every corner" formed the ultimate deterrent to crime. While acknowledging that manpower in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) was not comparable to the New York Police Department, he welcomed the new recruitment drive to bring the force to 10,000 personnel.
DCP Shields pointed to new initiatives such as the new Crime Policy Group, which met for the first time yesterday, as producing what he called a "more businesslike approach to policing". The group involves all units from within the JCF, as well as invited groups from outside the force.
He said arrests of high-profile dons were a deterrent to criminals: "Perhaps we've shown in the last two years that nobody in this country is untouchable."
In justifying this claim, he recounted a two-hour walkabout in Spanish Town during the funeral of area don Donovan 'Bulbie' Bennett.
"... Businesses were open as usual; taxis did not have black flags and people were generally happy," said DCP Shields.
