ST JAMES, Jamaica (JIS) — Commissioner of Police George Quallo says the number of security personnel patrolling the streets of Montego Bay and its outlying communities will be scaled up significantly to maintain order leading up to the Christmas season.

The commissioner toured sections of Montego Bay yesterday including Granville and Glendevon, which he described as “areas where we are having some concerns”.

He pointed out that these first-hand interactions are to reassure the communities that members of the Police High Command are committed to ensuring their security.

The commissioner was speaking at a press briefing, following the tour, at the Freeport Police Station.

“It is our intention to change some strategies, to redeploy some persons here in an effort to ensure the safety of the citizens in this parish, and to target some of these persons who are causing problems in this parish. So, having had an assessment, we will be looking at additional support going forward,” he said.

Commanding Officer of Area One, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Donovan Graham, said the military will also be a key component of the patrols and surveillance.

He said that citizens of St James can rest assured that the police will “go into this festive season and into 2018 with more pointed operations, targeting the men that have continued to impact crime and violence”.

“I have been having dialogue with my counterparts at the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), and we are starting the planning for the activities going right into the Christmas season and beyond, where we will have increased joint deployments,” ACP Graham said.