HEAD of the St Andrew Central Police Division Senior Superintendent Fitz Bailey says he expects this year's ISSA Boys' and Girls' Athletics Championships to be free of the usual violence that sometimes beset the games.

Bailey told the Jamaica Observer that the police had taken proactive action to sensitise students and head off any possibility of violence between supporters of rival schools.

"We have embarked on a number of initiatives, all endorsed by the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA). We held a Peace for Champs expo at the Half-Way-Tree bus park and have gone to schools to have devotion with the students and teachers. We also held a prayer breakfast, and all activities are handled by the policemen and women in the Community Safety and Security Branch. We expect that this year things will be better in terms of violence," Bailey said.

He said 32 schools took part in the peace expo.

The championships begin today and will end on Saturday evening.

The police warned that they would be enforcing the law as it relates to all major events.

No sharp objects, bottles, large igloos, or large umbrellas will be allowed inside the National Stadium, and all patrons will be searched.

The police will also be conducting regular patrols along routes leading to and from the stadium and will also be out in large numbers in Cross Roads and Half-Way- Tree.

"It will be the standard manner in which we police these events. The law will be upheld," Bailey insisted yesterday.