WE don’t have to be part of the constabulary to recognise that striking a proper balance to ensure police enforcement measures do not hinder social and economic activity can be difficult.

In that respect, we are drawn to bitter complaints from residents of St Mary communities, including Baileys Vale, that recurring curfews in recent months are having a crippling effect.

In fact, one Baileys Vale resident told the Sunday Observer that the curfews have left people feeling like “prisoners”.

Locals complain that commercial activity has been hamstrung by 6:00 pm to 6:00 am curfews, and that young people are being unfairly harassed and stigmatised by police.

The public frustration is apparently reinforced by a perception that incidents of crime (known to them) do not provide a basis for the lockdowns. Some locals also claim that police have not properly communicated with them by justifying and/or explaining the curfews.

A jerk vendor in Baileys Vale told our reporter that, “I don’t see the reason [for the security measure]. … I don’t see anything happening. I don’t see any yellow tape, nuh gunshot nah lick, nobody nah dead, so me nuh see why…”

Some people in Baileys Vale are now said to be contemplating roadblock-type demonstrations.

We are told that residents in another St Mary community, Three Hills, Retreat, recently protested against curfews.

Police statistics for St Mary show a trending down of murders and shootings last year and thus far in 2025. However, in 2024 robberies climbed by 18.2 per cent and break-ins “surged by 92.3 per cent up”.

The St Mary police say the curfews are grounded in intelligence and are a legitimate response to the threat from criminals.

According to Acting Superintendent of Police Anthony Wallace, head of the St Mary Police Division, despite “tremendous success in recent times” in curbing crime across that north-eastern parish… “there has been a recent uptick in criminal activities in specific areas within the division. Intelligence indicates that rival criminal factions and scammers have reignited conflicts, threatening the progress we have made…”

That brings us back to the question of whether more should be done by the security forces in St Mary to connect with, listen to, and explain to the public.

We recall similar discontent in a few Manchester communities, including Porus, in relation to curfews late last year. That situation appears to have improved following a well-attended March town hall meeting involving residents, police, and political representatives. To be fair, the sharp recent decline in crime in Manchester removed the need for curfews.

Tied closely to basic two-way communication is that urgent need for the constabulary to formally and informally partner with communities through neighbourhood watch and other groups, including citizens’ associations and youth clubs.

Police statistics and anecdotal evidence have consistently shown that organised, well-led neighbourhoods usually show much lower crime rates than elsewhere.

Building and sustaining that level of organisation everywhere across Jamaica, so that those with a criminal mindset are left with nowhere to go, is a challenge we must all embrace.

As president of the National Neighbourhood Watch Council Opal Davis told the launch of a neighbourhood watch in Fairbanks Park, Mandeville, Manchester, in late March: “We are the majority. They [criminals] are the minority, and we have to stamp our mark and say Jamaica belongs to us …”