NEW security measures, including the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, are being implemented at the Spanish Town Municipal Bus Park in St Catherine.

“We’ve installed 11 Hikvision CCTV cameras in and around the park so far,” Head of security for the park, Onesho Goode told the Jamaica Observer Tuesday.

“It was not a hard decision because the Spanish Town Bus Park is a primary place in St Catherine. We want to contribute to the overall reduction of crime and enhance the security of our stakeholders who all agreed that additional security measures were needed,” he said.

Goode said that more plans are afoot to implement a series of other security measures, including the long-awaited establishment of a police post inside the park.

The Observer noted the presence of several police officers and members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) in and around the perimeters of the park, which is in the zone of the state of public emergency that is in effect in St Catherine North.

The park has been reported as a crime hotspot, following the murder of two bus drivers and a shooting incident which left one vendor injured within a three-month period.

“The installation of CCTV cameras is welcomed because it would be able to capture a lot of footage that we can act on, in relation to wrongdoers moving in and out of the park,” said commanding officer of the St Catherine North Division, Senior Superintendent of Police Beau Rigabie.

Rigabie also said a police post will be established inside the park sometime this month.

One business owner in the bus park, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “We see the efforts being made to secure the bus park and we are pleased with that because it will definitely be a deterrent for criminals.”

However, he complained that the state of public emergency — which stipulates that all businesses should be closed by 7:00 pm — was killing his business.

“On a rainy day like this, people will come in and look around and buy things while they wait for their taxis or until the rain ends, but now we have to close early and we are losing customers that way,” he said.

Another business owner, who also declined to give his name, told the Observer that his profits have declined by at least 40 per cent since the implementation of the state of public emergency.

“We usually close at 9:00 pm because most customers who are coming in from Kingston will get to the bus park by 7:00 pm, but by that time we have to be locking up,” he said.

“The police inside the park also need to change their approach toward civilians and reassure us that they are here to serve and protect and not to cause any harm, because most people once they see the police and soldiers they want to get in and out the park as quickly as possible,” he added.

Another business owner, Michelle Johnson, agreed with her colleagues, but conceded that her customers felt safer with the police presence, especially since some considered the park to be “one of the worst places in Spanish Town”.

As it relates to the CCTV cameras, Johnson pointed out that the devices not only monitored illegal activities but also helped to keep the police officers “in check”.

While speaking to the Observer via telephone around 6:58 pm, Johnson was interrupted by a police officer who could be heard telling her it was time to “pack-up”.

On March 18, Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared a 14-day state of public emergency for St Catherine North Police Division after 48 murders were recorded in the division between January 1 and March 18. Last year, 136 people were killed in St Catherine North.

The Parliament has since voted to extend the period of the current state of emergency in the St Catherine North Police Division to July 3.