GRANVILLE, St James – In what is being viewed by some as a strategic move by Acting Commissioner of Police Owen Ellington to arrest the spiralling murder toll and other crimes in this community, the police post here is to be upgraded to a police station.

A senior cop disclosed that as opposed to a police station, a police post ” is minimally staffed, just to carry administrative things at the station”.

The number of police personnel that will make up the complement of the Granville Police Station wasn’t immediately clear yesterday, however.

The communities of Mud Valley, Retirement and Retirement Phase One are hotbeds for crime and accountable for the majority of murders committed in the Granville police district. According to police statistics the tough Granville communities account for 29 of the 204 murders recorded in the parish since the start of the year.

The acting police chief earlier this week listed the reduction of crime- especially murder- as one of his six priorities.

Yesterday, Inspector Dowton Martin, a 30-year police veteran, met with a group of residents who aired their concerns, on his first day in charge of the Granville Police Station. He was accompanied by other personnel from the police community, safety and security department.

Inspector Martin, recom-mended that the community members form themselves into an association and change the name of Mud Valley.

” I don’t even like to hear the name Mud Valley. I would rather you call this area by a different name,” Inspector Martin remarked, noting that the name carried a negative connotation.

The residents quickly renamed the community Meadows Vale.

Martin, who describes himself as a community-oriented cop, promised the residents that police patrols would increase in the area and extended his telephone numbers to the residents.

“You will see more patrols in the area and I will come through from time to time. Please feel free to call me anytime my numbers are 862-4644 and the 825-7476,” Inspector Martin told the group yesterday. ” I am a community oriented person I believe in communicating with citizens to find out their concerns, look at the things affecting them and work to see how best we can alleviate their fears”.

The citizens however raised the concern of trust among members of the police force.

“I would implore you (Inspector Martin) to chose your team and chose your team carefully chose people that residents can trust because of experiences in the past,” one resident noted.