PRESIDENT of the Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services (TODSS) Egeton Newman is appealing to Commissioner of Police Dr Kevin Blake to stomp out what he calls unwarranted attacks on taxi operators by some members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

Newman’s call came following recent altercations involving taxi operators and cops in the Price Rite area of St Andrew which led to the discharging of a firearm by a member of the JCF and the arrest of four public transport operators.

“We are just asking the commissioner to work with us. We want to work with him. We want to reduce the anarchy being felt by the transport sector. We have been making strides in regards to a prevalence of these kinds of situations but now it seems like instead of taking 10 steps forward, we are taking 10 steps backwards,” Newman lamented on Thursday.

“A relationship with the police that was going on well is under threat because of a few bad cops — a few constables in the Constant Spring area especially. There are other areas too but we are working with PSTEB (Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch) to try and keep the thing at a level but these ones are eroding the trust right now,” Newman charged.

He told the Jamaica Observer that, on Wednesday and Tuesday, taxi operators had a stand-off with the police from the Constant Spring police station, who were operating in the Chancery Street area.

“It is alleged that the operator said certain things to the police officer which caused a verbal and physical altercation. The police became physical, not the [taxi] operator. It was alleged that words were thrown at the police. The stand-off moved from the Chancery Street area to the Constant Spring Police offices where four operators were arrested for various offences.

“Three were given bail and upon a request and upon a meeting held between us and the hierarchy of the Constant Spring police department. We were assured that the offence was being looked at by the Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom) and various other police departments. Three of the four operators were given station bail while the other was held back allegedly because he threatened to kill the police,” Newman said.

According to Newman, representatives of the transport sector had a more-than-five-hour meeting with the Constant Spring police to discuss the matter.

“We left there at 5:00 pm after we started discussions at 10:00 am,” Newman told the Observer.

He said certain assurances were given by the police but, “when the hierarchy of the police left the station, the constables at the lower end said no way, it can’t be so and they have to hold back on this one”.

Newman said a team of public passenger vehicles operators met Wednesday at Melbourne Cricket Club in St Andrew with representatives of various police departments and a representative of Indecom, who joined via online.

“We discussed the matter at length and various notations were made. We consulted with our lawyers and they are trying to get a court date for Friday (today) for the operator who was held back,” Newman said.

He contended that some the conflicts between transport operators and the police stemmed from personal grouses.

“There are a handful of constables, and I say a handful because we have been making good grace with the Jamaica Constabulary Force over the past two years. We have seen a reduction in certain matters that were escalating over the years and the discussion that we have had with PSTEB and various police divisions have been going well. What happened at Constant Spring, some operators see it as a one-off situation but there are three police officers who in recent times have been creating mayhem with the operators,” said Newman.

“Once they come on a scene they start to target persons who they have personal issues with and not anything to do with law. This is what was said to us by operators. They have personal conflict with members of the sector and we have called and continue to call for them to be removed from that area.

“In the meetings with the police hierarchy we asked for them to be removed. We were assured that one would be removed from front-line duty. We are not sure if he has been removed but we are preparing for a meeting with the commissioner of police for those officers to be removed from that area,” added Newman.