THE St Ann Police Youth Club Council’s (PYCC) debate competition has been named in honour of slain policeman Keemo Walsh who was the leader of the Content Police Youth Club at the time of his death.

He was allegedly shot and killed by a colleague on May 3, 2015 while the two were at a bar in Ocho Rios. His colleague later shot and killed himself.

Senior police officers, who attended the launch of the 2015 debate competition earlier this month, supported the move by the St Ann PYCC for naming the competition in honour of the police officer who contributed significantly to the police youth club during his short stint serving the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

Acting Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Orville Bushay said Walsh was an active member of the St Ann Police Youth Club, and commended the council for naming the competition in his honour. Also commending the move was Inspector Webster James, who launched the project on behalf of Superintendent Wayne Cameron, the new head of the St Ann police division.

There were also high praises for the competition itself which is expected to help youth club members to better manage conflicts.

“I want to commend the Youth Club Council, Constable Smith and the team for embarking on this task of putting this debate together,” DSP Bushay said, noting that members of the council all give of their time freely to accomplish task such as the debate competition.

He said at a time when volunteerism seems to be declining, it was refreshing and heart-warming to know that these young people were willing to volunteer.

“We really appreciate what you are doing,” he said.

He pointed out that most of the people being charged for murder are under 30 years old.

“It means our youth are in trouble,” DSP Bushay said, adding that the youth club is creating an impact in the lives of young people and is making a difference in an age group which is troubled.

“In Jamaica people are unable to debate issues. A lot of the murders are as a result of people unable to debate issues,” he continued.

He pointed out that the competition will help the youth understand that they can “disagree to agree”.

Sturge Town Police Youth Club, the newest club in St Ann and one which is not yet officially launched, created an upset when they beat Runaway Bay Police Youth Club in the first match of the season earlier this month. Opposing the moot, ‘Be it resolved, the music industry contributes significantly to crime and violence among youth’, Sturge Town presenters were confident going up against the proposers, and in the end they were the winners. The team won with 204 points to Runaway Bay’s 193 points. The best speaker was Kishawna Ingram of the Sturge Town team.

Constable Shagorey Smith, police youth club coordinator for St Ann, said the debate competition was started in 2009 and was again held in 2011. This year will be the third staging of the competition. The competition is expected to run biennially along with the quiz competition which was revitalised last year.