MONEY raised from Montego Bay’s inaugural mayor’s charity ball will be used to purchase a fully-equipped mobile crime scene unit to serve the parish’s police department and also for the training of officers in its use.

The ball is scheduled for the Ritz Carlton Rose Hall Hotel on December 22.

Superintendent in charge of the parish, Owen Ellington, told reporters this week that there was urgent need for such a unit.

“It is a growing trend in the business of crime management that eye witnesses are becoming more and more reluctant to come forward and give evidence out of fear of reprisal. And because sometimes, over time, their memory may lapse or they may be influenced to turn the other way, more and more investigators are looking to scientific evidence as the basis for linking criminals or suspects with incidents of crime,” the superintendent said.

He added: “Scenes of crimes are now being looked at as a very important source of material, which can be used as evidence in criminal trials and therefore the scenes of crimes unit is very important in the equipment that a police outlet should have. As it is now, Area One, which is St James, Hanover, Trelawny and Westmoreland, all share one scene of crime unit and this is very little more than a panel van with a few bits and pieces of equipment in it.”

He added that a new and fully-equipped scene of crime unit would therefore be a welcomed development and would facilitate an improvement in the number of convictions the St James police were able to secure on the basis of material evidence.

The unit, he said, will help the police to extract from crime scenes, victims of crime, suspects held and from trails left by criminals materials that can be used and that can be analysed in a scientific way and will assist in providing evidence to secure convictions in court.

And according to Ellington, while there were officers with the necessary training to use the unit, additional persons would need training.

It was not clear how much the unit will cost, but Kaleith Solomon, chairperson for the committee organising the ball, said they intend to raise between $4.5 million and $5 million. And, mayor, Hugh Solomon said they were currently looking at other fund-raising initiatives in order to raise whatever sum may be needed.

Other activities to be undertaken as part of the city’s Christmas activities include the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony on December 17 in Sam Sharpe Square and the St James Infirmary’s annual residents’ dinner on December 20 at the Verney House Hotel.