MANDEVILLE, Manchester — The Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) has sent a letter of protest to Police Commissioner Major Antony Anderson following reports that a freelance photographer on assignment for the Jamaica Observer was “threatened, intimidated and chased away” from a crime scene by police personnel here on Monday.

The release from the PAJ, authorised by president George Davis, said in part: “Even as we acknowledge the duty of the police to maintain control of crime and incident scenes, the PAJ asserts that the media have a legitimate role to play by informing the public of such events.

“The PAJ is appealing to the high command and all members of the JCF to allow journalists, including photojournalists, to do their job without interference.”

The photographer reported that police threatened to “lock me up” if he took photographs of what was said to be the scene of a robbery. People on the scene, in the vicinity of ScotiaBank Mandeville on Caledonia Road close to the intersection with Ward Avenue, said the incident had taken place some time prior to the photographer’s arrival.  

The freelance photographer arrived at the scene at about 10:30 am, he said.

The photographer, whose work has been published by the Observer on numerous occasions over the last four years, left the scene without taking a picture, he said.  

However, the Constabulary Communications Unit told the Observer Monday, and again late yesterday, that checks with the Mandeville police provided no reports of any robbery or crime at the location.

Unconfirmed reports to the Observer from various sources say a man was robbed on, or close to, the steps of the bank by men who rushed at him after dismounting a motorcycle. They say the men fled immediately after, leaving the motorcycle behind.

A photo circulated on social media and apparently taken from inside a building across from the scene of the reported incident, shows police personnel around a motorcycle and a group of people looking on from an external corridor on the premises of the bank.