Police ready for election
THE police say they have stepped up their presence in communities across the island as the country prepares to vote in a general election on February 25.
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, who announced the election date at a mass rally Sunday, has set February 9 for Nomination Day.
“Police have been putting in place their security preparations for several months now but based on what we are seeing and observing we have put our activities into higher gear,” Assan Thompson, assistant commissioner of police, told the Jamaica Observer.
According to the police, they will be closely monitoring hotspots and other areas known for political tensions, saying that although there were no reports of political clashes recently, nothing will be left to chance.
“We continue to look into all areas and will be out in our numbers monitoring streets and areas to ensure that there are no incidents,” Thompson added.
Prime Minister Simpson Miller, in her speech Sunday, urged Comrades to go about their election campaigning peacefully, making it clear that she and her party were committed to a non-violent process.
In December last year, two people were killed in St Catherine in what was claimed to be politically motivated killings.
On December 2, a woman identified as Sadie Forbes was shot and killed in the Newlands community by unknown assailants. A few hours later a man, identified as Jermaine Vassell, was reportedly killed in what was said to be a reprisal for the killing of Forbes.
It was reported that Forbes, 44, was walking along the road at about 6:00 pm when she was shot dead by men travelling in a motor car. She was rushed to the Spanish Town Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
About two hours after Forbes was attacked, Vassell , alias Copper, was stabbed to death in the community.
The killings pushed the political directorate in the St Catherine East Central constituency to have a series of meetings with Political Ombudsman Donna Parchment-Brown, who recommended that the parties shouls not mount flags during the political campaign period.
