THE police’s main duty is to protect and serve, although for most officers of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) the focus is usually more on protection and less on service to the citizens.

However, for Corporal Albert Harvey, of the community relations department of the Port Maria Police Station in St Mary, nothing gives greater satisfaction than to serve the parish by mobilising police youth clubs, neighbourhood watch groups, citizen associations and scout groups.

So effective has been Harvey’s work that the parish of St Mary has brought home the islandwide trophy twice for having one of the most effective neighbourhood watch groups. In addition, the parish also boasts the largest number of vibrant police youth clubs which provides skills training to many unemployed youths.

“My greatest satisfaction comes from seeing the youths being placed in jobs after receiving training which just completely change their lives,” said the 18-year veteran of the JCF.

An elated Corporal Harvey, citing an example of a success story, spoke of one club member who was selected from among 400 candidates islandwide to participate in a three-year exchange programme in Canada.

The youngster, he said, on his return to Jamaica was given a job at the Ministry of Social Security, before he went on to further training at a teacher’s college and then later to England where he is studying law.

“We keep in touch with him and from time to time he will send things for the clubs,” said a proud Corporal Harvey.

He also boasted about another club member who was one of 10 people selected for training in the hospitality industry after he was out of work and on the streets for ‘a very long time’. After successfully completing his training the youth gained employment at a large hotels and was recently promoted to a supervisory position.

Corporal Harvey, who is the sub-officer in charge of the police community relations department in Port Maria, also could not contain his pride when he mentioned that “last year was one of the most successful for community outreach activities in the parish”.

He cited the example of Bonny Gate, a community whose residents single-handedly established a clinic, which is visited twice per year by overseas doctors who provide free medical service.

“There was a building which was abandoned and the residents got permission from the owner to use it as a clinic and they did everything themselves, which included getting the necessary funding,” he said.

St Mary has 32 active police youth clubs with a membership of more than 450 youths between the ages of 8 and 25, many of whom have benefited from skills training though a collaborative programme with the police and the St. Mary Heart Academy.

“We try to help them through training at HEART in areas such as electrical installation, welding and hospitality, among others, and we also try and find sponsor for those who are unable to pay for it,” Harvey told the Sunday Observer.

Other successes highlighted by the policeman was the recently concluded training course in information technology, through which 120 club members and 35 police officers received training. The community relations department also facilitated training for 16 police officers in the parish and five club members in a six-month long customer service course, also at the Heart Academy.

But what has made the community policing even more effective in the parish is the love the officers in this department have for the job they do, said Harvey.

“We are more committed to the task and we have very vibrant staff members in this department who are self-motivated,” he said.

He said that although the department has not had a service vehicle for the last four years they have used their personal transport to visit the various communities in the parish.

Harvey said, however, that the challenges were many as the department was hard pressed to find enough committed police officers to serve as leaders of each police youth clubs. There are currently 10 clubs without leaders resulting in one officer heading up four clubs at a time, he said.

“It is a thing you cannot force on them (police officers) because they have to have a love for it,” said Harvey. He said it was not easy work as members of the department were constantly seeking ingenious ways of attracting youths, many of whom would not fit into an average community club.

Sporting competition was one of the vehicles used in attracting youngsters to the clubs. “We started first with a female cricket competition because we realised many of the clubs were dormant due to lack of activities,” said Harvey.

He said there have since been football and netball competitions which have generated a lot of interest in the clubs, causing some 11 dormant groups to become fully active.

The department has also generated sponsorship for the sporting competitions through businesses as well as from entertainers Capleton, Tanya Stephens and Ninja Man, all natives of the parish.

But sports is only one activity used to reach the youths as the community relations department has also been actively involved in school programmes, offering lectures on various issues such as sexual offences and conflict resolution.

The community relations officers have also reaped success through the safe school programme which have targetted troubled institutions within the parish.

“There has been a great reduction in violence in these schools since because it is not an iron approach that we use, but sometimes because of the mere presence of the officers these youth will do better,” he explained.

The officers have also participated in the after-school programmes at some schools in the Port Maria area, working with guidance counsellors to assist problem students.

“We found that some of these persons were unable to read and write and so we would also teach them literacy skills in these after-school classes,” Harvey said.

In addition to the many other programmes, the community relations staff also host regular community meetings throughout the parish, giving residents an opportunity to air their grouses.

“We use these meetings to let residents know what the police is doing for the parish of St Mary and then we hear from them what they want from us,” said Harvey.

Joyce Smith, a resident of Port Maria, lauded the efforts of the police in the St Mary capital, noting that they have helped to reduce criminal activities in the parish.

“Me not saying that is all of them good because some of them still feisty, but we like what some of them are doing for the youths because it keep them out of trouble,” said Smith.

Dub poet Derrick Robinson, who goes by the stage name Black X, also lauded the police’s efforts in the parish which he said have been very rewarding for the youths, and

pledged to help raise money to further assist the clubs.