NEGRIL, Westmoreland — The Westmoreland police are celebrating a 36 per cent reduction in murders in the parish since the start of this year.

Up to Saturday, the parish recorded some 14 murders, which was eight fewer than the 22 recorded over the same period last year.

Head of the Westmoreland Police Division, Superintendent Gary McKenzie, revealed that there have been reductions in rapes, shootings and other crimes.

He made the revelation while addressing a function, put on by the Westmoreland police, to honour over 100 police officers in the division for excellence at the Couples Swept Away Resort in Negril, Westmoreland, on Saturday.

When Superintendent McKenzie who took over command of the Westmoreland Police Division in April last year, he pledged then that law and order would be restored to a number of communities in the parish. On Saturday night he reflected on some of the gains which have been realised over the period as a result of the yeoman service put in by the men and women under his command.

“Last year the men and women of the Westmoreland division, they were third in terms of the number of guns that were recovered in the country as a geographic division,” stated a beaming Superintendent McKenzie.

He also highlighted success in the apprehension of dangerous wanted men, five of whom were killed in firefights with the police; an improvement in public order management, especially in the township of Negril and Savanna-la-Mar; and obtaining a number of convictions in the courts.

Internally, the police were able to ensure that its Performance Management Appraisal System (PMAS) works effectively to the extent that the division was awarded first place in Area One, which comprises the parishes of Trelawny, St James, Hanover and Westmoreland.

Turning to personal development, Superintendent McKenzie cited that a majority of young men and women from the division were able to perform outstandingly well in their promotional examinations which resulted in the parish having the most constables being promoted to corporals than any other divisions in the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

Director of Complaints at the Western Region of the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), Errol Chattoo who delivered the keynote message, congratulated the recipients for their outstanding work as he spoke on the topic, “Five Steps on the Road to Excellence”.

Chattoo, whose career as a young attorney started in Westmoreland years ago, said he has had an excellent working relationship with the men and women of the JCF, especially in Westmoreland.

“When I look around in this room, I see Mr Milton, I see Mr Hamilton, I see Mr McKenzie and I see a lot of police officers whom I have had the privilege of not working against, but working with. I can personally say without any hesitation that I have had an extremely good and professional relationship with the members of the JCF. Let me offer my congratulations to all of you for the wonderful relationship that we have had and I hope that we continue to have that relationship,” stated Chattoo.