LUCEA, Hanover – COMMANDING officer for the Hanover Police Division, Superintendent Sharon Beeput, has called on councillor for the Green Island Division, Marvel Sewell, for help in the fight against criminal activities in his area.

“Just to say that I am seeking…I have reached out to my dear councillor [Sewell]…[and] need some assistance because a lot of things have been happening in that Green Island space. We have been doing some work, joint operations with our JDF [Jamaica Defence Force] partners, but we need to intensify some more operational activities there,” stated Superintendent Beeput.

She said there are unknown individuals in the area and as such, the police are in need of the councillor’s assistance with information on these individuals and their activities in the division.

The superintendent was speaking at the recent monthly general meeting of the Hanover Municipal Corporation.

On July 8, a man who was sitting on his verandah in the Wharf Road, Green Island, area was shot and killed by a lone gunman.

Additionally, three people were arrested and a firearm seized by the police following a shooting incident on the Pond Piece main road in the division.

There are also reports of several other incidents in the division.

Sewell, who was in attendance at the meeting during Beeput’s presentation, did not respond to the superintendent’s request.

But chairman of the Hanover Municipal Corporation, Sheridan Samuels, implored his fellow councillors to assist the police in its fight against crime in the parish.

“We, as political representatives, we need to step up to the plate and try and assist in whatever way we can in terms of keeping our divisions and the communities within our divisions safe. So I am imploring the councillors to do whatever you can, because if we don’t assist in this area we will constantly have problems with shootings, murders and those things,” Samuels argued.

He contended that even though people may be of the opinion that councillors are informers, they should do all they can to protect the citizens.

“Persons might think that you are informing…even if they want, we were elected to protect the citizens. We were elected, so don’t leave it on the police alone. Let us get involved in doing what we have to do,” asserted Samuels, who is also the mayor of Lucea.

When contacted by the Jamaica Observer West, Sewell declined to comment on the matter.