THE United Kingdom will be assisting the Jamaican police to set up a National Intelligence Bureau, which will co-ordinate the operations of all intelligence units within the constabulary.

"This single entity will co-ordinate all the Jamaica Constabulary Force's intelligence activities and it will work closely with all other intelligence-gathering agencies in Jamaica," Security Minister Peter Phillips said yesterday at the Jamaican High Commission in London, where he gave an update on his five-day visit to the UK.

Phillips told reporters that there has also been agreement to provide a range of equipment and training assistance for developing both the intelligence and operational side of the constabulary.

A team from the Metropolitan Police in London is expected to visit Jamaica early in December, and the members will provide training and operational support to enhance the capabilities of the police, as both Jamaica and the UK focus their efforts on violent gangs, the security minister said.

These gangs, the minister noted, were operating in a cross-border fashion and were impacting negatively on both Jamaica and the UK.

"The team to visit Jamaica in December will undertake a much more systematic evaluation of the particular areas of training we have identified for emphasis, and the members will identify the manpower, equipment and other demands of this kind of collaborative effort," Phillips said.

He said this would support the new anti-crime measures that would be implemented shortly.

While not disclosing details of the new anti-crime programme, Minister Phillips said it would involve a change in approach and would see the security forces being more proactive, and maintaining a more long-term presence in the violence-prone areas.

And as the police prepared to announce their new crime plan, Deputy Commissioner T G Johnson yesterday appealed for the public's co-operation by assisting the police with information concerning criminal activities.

"Tell us what you know. If persons continue to remain as bystanders, and pretend not to see anything then the police force is fighting alone, an un-winnable battle," Johnson said at a press conference in Kingston.

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