MONTEGO BAY, St James — President of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry Oral Heaven has promised more frequent recognition of the work done by ancillary staff who support the St James Police Division as its members work to keep the parish safe.

“We are recognising the people who are working behind the scenes, who make it possible for the police to do their jobs that is so integral and important to the growth and development of commerce and business in Montego Bay,” Heaven explained.

He described the support staff as the engine behind the division’s operations and promised to keep letting them know their contribution is valued.

“This is just the start and we’re going to continue… We’ll try and make this an ongoing thing. We have partners out there, business people we can reach out to and once we can reach out to them and they assist us, then we’ll be here to support and assist in any way possible,” he vowed.

On December 30, Heaven and other members of the chamber — after discussions with Senior Superintendent of Police Vernon Ellis who heads the St James division — presented tokens of appreciation to ancillary staff during a brief ceremony at the Freeport Police Station. Among those who received bags containing a variety of personal care items were janitors and administrative staff.

“The COVID pandemic taught me, as a police commander, the importance of my unsworn members, which is you,” Ellis told them during the event.

“We kept these departments open while we managed the pandemic; all of you seated here, the 62 of you across the parish, pretty much managed to help us to get through there.”

The role played by the support staff, he said, had been invaluable.

“Some of the times it was a just a few of us here, holding this place together. A department that runs with 30 persons, sometimes it went down to just four persons alone carrying it through… All of the administrative work that is done by ticketing office and the general support office by you unsworn members, you didn’t take away yourself,” he noted.

“I know COVID must have been a lot of anxiety and trepidation because you are working right inside there and then you hear that two persons have COVID. Then you have to come tomorrow to clean the same place that all the people who had COVID work. You’re brave and you’re unsung heroes,” he added.

Ellis thanked the chamber for its kind gesture but went further to thank the business lobby group for its ongoing support in the police’s effort to curb disorderly behaviour in the parish, in particular within the capital city.

“Montego Bay, St James, is paradise and funny enough it’s not the police alone who is driving this mandate. The Chamber of Commerce and the members here, they are standing with us to see us achieve this goal,” he said.