‘Seven too many’

THE Trelawny police are taking no comfort in the parish’s low murder figure, with head of the division Superintendent Velonique Campbell saying the seven people killed since the start of the year are “seven too many” as interpersonal conflicts continue to fuel violence. Campbell noted that the seven murders in the parish so far this year are compared with nine over the corresponding period last year, but warned that the reduction should not obscure the human cost of the killings. Speaking on the latest episode of the JCF’s Force4Good Podcast, Campbell said the Trelawny police are particularly concerned about the role of disputes between individuals, with three of this year’s seven murders categorised as interpersonal conflicts. The figure reflects a broader concern within the division that some of the violence can be prevented if disputes are identified and addressed before they escalate into physical attacks and murder. “We’re not at a bad place... However, we’re not comfortable. “We want to get the message out to our residents that one murder is even too much. We want to continuously push the figures down. People need to know that it is not okay to take a life. Nothing warrants taking a life,” said Campbell. She noted that land disputes and domestic problems are among the issues driving violence in Trelawny, making intervention outside the traditional police response critical to reducing murders. The divisional commander appealed to residents to seek peaceful solutions to their disagreements, and urged community stakeholders to alert authorities when they become aware of disputes that could potentially turn violent. “We just want to use this opportunity to appeal to the residents to find amicable ways to resolve their disputes, and we want to improve our partnership with other stakeholders to assist when they recognise that persons are having disputes in their homes, at the community level. “And some of the stakeholders that we are appealing to are the justices of the peace. We have teachers and principals living in certain communities as well. And of course, on the political side, we have our MPs [Members of Parliament] and councillors. Everybody has a role to play,” added Campbell. She noted that the parish recorded 16 murders last year, eight of which were attributed to interpersonal conflicts. Commander for Area One, Assistant Commissioner of Police Glenford Miller noted that the police cannot solve the problem alone as the cops depend heavily on residents to report disputes before they reach the point of violence.

A screen grab of Commander for Area One, Assistant Commissioner of Police Glenford Miller

He said police often become aware of conflicts only after they have escalated, limiting their ability to intervene before someone is injured or killed. “Sometimes, if this information had been passed on to us so that we could just intervene in these situations, it would have not turned out into a murder, a wounding, and then transfer into gang warfare. So we are appealing to the residents to actually keep us informed of these incidents or situations within the various communities so that we can come in and actually stop it,” Miller added. He pointed to situations in which an argument at a bar or party escalates into a physical confrontation, followed by a person leaving and returning with a firearm. According to Miller, those situations reinforce the need for people to find non-violent ways of resolving disagreements before they reach a point where police intervention becomes necessary.