MANDEVILLE, Manchester — The shortage of police vehicles in Manchester has been worsened by recent crashes involving cops, leaving some stations without mobility.

In the most recent incident, which occurred on August 14, a Toyota Hilux service vehicle assigned to the Manchester Police Division crashed into the rear side fender of another service vehicle, a Mitsubishi Triton, assigned to the St Elizabeth police.

This followed an August 10 incident where four policemen escaped serious injury when the Toyota Hilux service vehicle they were travelling in overturned onto the side of a house off the Nine Miles main road near Spalding in north-western Clarendon, which is under the jurisdiction of the Manchester Police Division.

The mangled Toyota Hilux police service vehicle involved in a crash on the Nine Miles main road in north western Clarendon on August 10. Kasey Williams

In July, a policeman sustained a broken leg and bruises in a crash on the Hatfield main road while responding to a call about a prowler on a property.

During Thursday’s sitting of the Manchester Municipal Corporation, Mayor of Mandeville Donovan Mitchell questioned how often cops assigned to drive service vehicles get defensive driving training.

The damaged Mitsubishi Triton service vehicle involved in the August 14 crash. Kasey Williams

Mitchell pointed to the incident where two police service vehicles collided as he sought an answer to, “How often is the training to ensure we don’t have many more vehicles being damaged?”

In response, head of the Manchester Police Division Deputy Superintendent Odean Dennis said its fleet of vehicles is severely affected by the crashes.

“I must say that we do not have refresher courses where driving is concerned as frequently as we would want to… Since I have been here there have been four service vehicle accidents and it is only in two of these incidents that the police were not at fault… This is something that we are tackling, it has led to us being in the sort of quandary that we are now as it relates to the number of service vehicles that are available for use,” said Dennis.

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“It is something that we are serious about and whenever it is that persons are found to be at fault where these accidents are concerned, we stop them from driving and there is an investigation, and if needs, be just like any other normal citizen, they are charged and placed before the court,” added Dennis.

— Kasey William