A policeman at the Hunts Bay Police Station in Kingston mourns the death of his colleague, Constable Desmond Douglas, who was shot dead during an operation in Cockburn Pen, yesterday morning. (Photo: Karl McLarty)

CONSTABLE Desmond Douglas was shot dead at about 5:30 yesterday morning in the volatile community of Cockburn Pen, becoming the fourth policeman to be killed in the nation's capital - Kingston - in just over a week.

Just under four hours after the policeman was gunned down, lawmen said gunmen engaged them in a shoot-out in the tough inner-city community, during which one of the gunmen was cut down at Bakery Lane, a short distance from where the policeman was shot dead. He was identified only as "Ned".

Before the shooting of the alleged gunman, Tamar Blake, 23, of Balcombe Drive, was shot dead by gunmen in what was said to be an ongoing gang feud in that section of Olympic Gardens. Blake was killed at about 7:30 along Balcombe Drive.

Douglas' murder was immediately condemned by the police chief, Lucius Thomas, Security Minister Peter Phillips, the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party and Jamaicans for Justice.

"Constable Douglas has paid the ultimate price as he and other members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force seek to bring peace and stability to sections of the St Andrew South Police Division.

"It is obvious that the forces of evil are bent on waging a campaign against the rule of law," said Thomas.

Phillips, while condemning the killing of the policeman, said the police need to think not only of their own safety when on an operation, but have to be cognizant of the need to be a protector. "I still see too many men and women of the JCF on the road in uniform without sufficient obvious attention being paid by way of their alertness and covering each other. I think this is an area we want to address in our communication with them. But we also need to look at our training systems to see if there are ways we can make this second nature," said Phillips.

Opposition spokesman on security Derrick Smith said he hoped Douglas' killing would not undermine the confidence of members of the force in defeating gunmen, but that they would be motivated to carry on the courageous efforts of men like the dead constable.

And Jamaicans for Justice said the murder of the policeman was a further attack on the forces of law and order.

Douglas, 23, who was assigned to the Hunts Bay Police Station, was among a group of about 24 police officers who were on an operation at a tenement yard in Pelican Parade, Cockburn Pen in Olympic Gardens, when the lawmen allegedly came under fire. During this exchange, Douglas was hit three times at close range, while he stood in a small passage between two houses in the tenement yard. Most of the officers took evasive action.

The gunmen, a police spokesman said, then jumped over a wall and escaped into the neighbouring Grass Quit Glade, while firing at cops who were positioned on that street.

The bullets pierced the rubber strap on the policeman's bullet-proof helmet, before entering his neck and throat. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
"I saw him lying on his back and wondered aloud, 'Is who that'?," said a dejected Detective Inspector Altermoth "Para" Campbell, who was part of the operation. "I saw an officer pull at his arm and his entire body came over," Campbell added.

Another policeman who was also a part of the operation, said the shooter may have been armed with a 9mm handgun and seemed to be "well-versed" in the use of a firearm. "The boy can fire him gun," the cop said.

Following the shooting, the Hunts Bay Police Station was a picture of grief as policemen and women mourned their lost colleague. Earlier in the morning Douglas' body was taken to the station by his colleagues, most of whom wept openly.

"He was a brave policeman," one teary-eyed woman constable said as she boarded a police vehicle headed for the troubled section of Cockburn Pen.

Another cop said Douglas seemed to have sensed his death.
"Him was a dilly dally like him never wanted to go and when we was going leave, them have to call him out of the guard room," one of Douglas' colleagues recalled.

Even though Douglas had been cut down in the line of duty, the cops continued combing Cling Cling Avenue, Pelican Parade and Grass Quit Glade. Led by head of the division, Superintendent Newton Amos, the cops searched a number of premises in the area.

Amos, armed with an M16 rifle and his side arm, bore a resolute look as he marshalled his troops.

During the second operation, the police went to premises at Bakery Lane and accosted a group of men, whom the cops alleged opened fire on them. The fire was returned and Ned was found suffering from gunshot wounds.

About a minute later, a police service vehicle pulled up at the intersection of Bakery Lane and Grass Quit Glade and two officers were seen putting a limp-looking man on the back seat. The police car then sped off with sirens blaring.

Ned, the police said, was positively identified as one of the men who had earlier fired at them at Pelican Parade. They said he was part of a gang which has been involved in a deadly feud with another gang from a nearby community.

The gang is led by a man known as "Oddie", who the police took into custody later in the day. A woman, who is said to be the spouse of "Oddie", was also detained as the police continue their investigations into the death of one of their own.

Two magazines for AK47 assault rifles and two imitation firearms were also recovered in the area.

The St Andrew South Police Division, which includes Cockburn Pen, has recorded 107 murders already this year, while the police have recovered 31 illegal firearms and 382 rounds of ammunition in the division.

Between Tuesday night and Wednesday last week, three policeman were shot dead in an apparent coordinated operation against the lawmen.

Corporal Hewitt Chandler of the Protective Services Division was shot dead by two men travelling on motorcycles at about 9:30 last Tuesday night when he stopped at the traffic light at the intersection of West Kings House and Waterloo roads. The two gunmen were shot dead by cops who happened to be in the area at the time.

Shortly after 3:00 Wednesday morning, gunmen sprayed the Cross Roads police station with bullets, killing District Constable Canute Brown during the attack. Just more than two hours after that attack, Inspector Lascelles Walsh, a traffic cop, was slain by gunmen when he stopped his police motorcycle at a traffic light along Port Royal Street in Kingston.

Nine policemen have been murdered since January 1 this year.

- walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com

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