NEGRIL, Westmoreland — A former member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), Arthel Colley, has charged that decisions by past and current leaders of the police teams in the resort town of Negril have contributed to criminal activities that the area is now facing.

Making his first public address since being elected as councillor for the Negril Division on a People’s National Party (PNP) ticket, Colley told a meeting with the Negril Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday that he believes the situation in Negril is as a result of “bad policing.”

““The situation as it relates to crime, I think, was caused by bad policing. And, I am not going to go into what I am referring to as bad policing because, yes, when I was here, the station they had hosted at some time of the year over 100 police officers and now, they have 40 odd and a bigger population and you have more crime,”” stated Colley, who retired at the rank of superintendent in 2017 while serving as the commanding officer for Hanover.

Colley had also served in Negril for 26 years.

””I can recall in my days when we had tourists robbed on the beach — we heard Daniel Grizzle [hotelier and former president of the Negril Chamber of Commerce] called [and say] that a tourist was robbed. We just got nervous. Now, we have murders and murders and murders and some of us seem not to speak about it,” added Colley as he urged members of the chamber to speak out about some of the things that are happening in Negril.

Following the meeting, Colley told the Jamaica Observer that there is a need for the police station in Negril to be upgraded and provided with additional resources.

“It is time now to get more police into Negril in order to deal with the crime situation. In order for safety both for locals and tourists,” declared Colley.

With the Police Service Commission selecting Deputy Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake to succeed Major General Antony Anderson as the head of the JCF come next Tuesday, Colley had request for the new top cop.

“I appeal to the new commissioner…look at the staffing in Negril, look at equipment also as it relates to motor vehicles [and] motorbikes. I think Negril needs a quick response team of at least 10 persons to deal with the situation in Negril,” ”said Colley.

He also recommended a staffing of no fewer than 80 police personnel and a complement of approximately 20 auxiliary staff for the Negril station.

This is not the first time that the issue of understaffing of the Negril Police Station has been brought to the fore.

In 2019, the then Member of Parliament (MP) for Westmoreland Western, in which a section of Negril is situated, Dr Wykeham McNeill told journalists, following a Negril stakeholders’ meeting to discuss crime and the various criminal activities affecting the area, that more boots were needed on the ground.

At that time, McNeil pointed out that the area had only 60 policemen and women deployed to deal with many crime issues in the resort town.