PORUS, Manchester — Mayor of Mandeville Donovan Mitchell has reiterated his opposition to the imposition of curfews as a crime-fighting tool despite claims by the police that the measure causes a reduction in major crimes.

“I know personally that curfews don’t stop murders. There was a time in a certain community —in which I am the councillor — a curfew was on and it was 10 minutes to 12 in the daylight [and] two persons were murdered at their house, so curfew really don’t stop murders,” Mitchell said on Wednesday at a town hall meeting at Trinity Baptist Church in Porus.

The meeting was organised by the Porus police to discuss security concerns, including the continuous imposition of curfews over the past six months, with residents calling for a lifting of the measure.

One vendor told the meeting that her business has declined since the imposition of the first curfew last October.

“I am a small business owner. I run a soup business. I come out at nine in the morning and prepare soup; by the time curfew comes at 6:45 pm what can I make? I cannot make nothing from that. Sometimes the curfew is 6:30 pm…Remember, people have to go to work,” said the woman who did not give a name.

“What can I make from my small business when there is a curfew? I have three children to take care of. I pay my bills from my small business. There is a curfew from October until now… I make a pot of soup, it nuh sell, mi have to dash it weh. It’s after 6:00 pm I get to sell my chicken and food, because people are at work during the day. We are suffering in Porus from the curfew,” the woman added.

That position was shared by the Mandeville mayor who urged the police to respect the livelihood of the citizens.

“What we need to do is to sit with the people and to look how best we can help to alleviate some of the problems,” said Mitchell.

“I can tell the [Child Protection and Family Services Agency] and the restorative justice [administrators] that if this thing continues then they will get a whole lot more calls, because there is no money to feed the children; husband and wife, girlfriend and boyfriend a fight because there is no money to pay the bills,” added Mitchell.

But Manchester police operations officer Deputy Superintendent Lohas Daniels defended the crime-fighting measure.

“I know the constraint the curfew can have and the economic effect on businesses as also persons’ movement, but on a utilitarian approach what would you prefer, the loss of life or the increase in profit? You have to be realistic,” said Daniels.

“A portion of the parish is under curfew and we are looking into it and to relax some of the areas in this parish and to include Porus… This is a measure used to reduce crime or to control crime and it is working. Since the start of the year we have seen a 40 per cent reduction in criminal activity in this parish.

“I will end by saying by next week I will go in collaboration with the management team from the Manchester division and you will all get answers,” added Daniels.

That comment provoked the ire of many of the residents in the meeting which descended into chaos.

Senior parish judge for Manchester Michele Salmon was quickly escorted out of the church hall by a police team, while Member of Parliament for Manchester Southern Robert Chin also left quickly.

Following the uproar, the residents who remained continued to raise concerns over the curfew during a question and answer session.