MONTEGO BAY, St James — Certain that work being done by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) has contributed significantly to the sharp drop in crime in Salt Spring, Senior Superintendent Vernon Ellis is now convinced there are alternatives to the bad cop routine.

“I was never somebody who liked intervention. I believed in hard core policing and going harder, and the harder they come the harder they fall,” said the police chief for St James.

He was speaking Thursday during the handover of a newly constructed park and ground breaking for rehabilitation of the Salt Spring Primary and Infant School. These are both JSIF initiatives, the latest on a list of measures taken since 2020 to improve the lives of those who live in the once crime-plagued community.

“I want to say thank you, JSIF. You made our lives better from the police side, you’ve made the community safer and, our partners, I must say your support is being felt,” he said.

“I won’t go into the statistics to tell you the significant transformation in terms of the reduction of crime but on a scale of one to 10, I will tell you that it has reduced by eight. So, if you doing any business or whatever it is, it’s an 80 per cent profit mark up on the investment that you’ve made inside here,” Ellis added.

He noted that this transformation as a result of the work done by JSIF and international partners came without the police force having to put additional “boots on the ground”.

According to Ellis, the work done in Salt Spring has convinced him of the soundness of the approach taken by the country’s top cop, Major General Antony Anderson, who has long urged his commanders to make intervention part of their toolkit. Ellis is now hoping the success seen in Salt Spring can be replicated in other communities.

During Thursday’s event JSIF Executive Director Omar Sweeney said their work has included physical intervention, enterprise grants and engaging the community.

“What has changed is that everyone in Salt Spring is working towards creating a new reality and when we create that reality, we leave everything behind us,” he said.

Sweeney believes the $4-million park opened on Thursday will help bring the community together.

“When there is conflict you have to have a means to release it. There are, of course, resolution methods, discussions with people and everything; but you also have to have an environment. The park behind us today is not just about playing but it is to provide an environment that even with conflicts, you can sit there… with the person and resolve the conflict. Or you can even, by yourself, go there and cool off,” he said.