AMITY HALL, St James — Long before last October’s Hurricane Melissa battered the police station in Amity Hall, St James, the building was badly in need of repair.

Things got worse when two containers the police force had planned to use as a temporary location were blown away by the storm’s Category 5 winds.

Last week’s murder in the community has added urgency to residents’ calls for their local police station to be reopened.

“It’s since the storm it look like this. People were in there before the storm but it’s after the storm it look like that,” a woman who asked not to be named told the Jamaica Observer during a recent visit.

“It did want to take down and fix up still, but them did still inside it,” she remarked.

The Amity Hall Police Station serves several communities in the area, including Lottery, Latium and Bucks Hill. With its closure the closest option is about 15 kilometres away in Adelphi, and the distance is taking an emotional and financial toll on residents.

“We need the station because we kinda nuh feel so hundred like how the station is not there now; [we] feel insecure and all of that,” the female resident said.

Last week’s murder occurred metres from where the shuttered police station is located, and it has sent shock waves through what was once a relatively peaceful area. As-yet-unknown assailants fatally shot a young man in the early hours of last Monday morning, leaving the community in mourning and on edge.

The remnants of two containers that were to be used to accommodate staff of Amity Hall Police Station in St James. They were destroyed by last year’s Hurricane Melissa. .

“Just the other day them come kill a little youth, just right near the post office, little boy up there, nice little youth,” the woman from the community told the Observer.

She credits God’s grace for the infrequency of major crimes in their community.

The woman shared her views on what happened with the previous effort to relocate the police station.

“They had a container but the breeze blow it down in the road. Seems like them never tie it down properly and it blow down,” she said.

“Good thing nobody was in there because them would be dead,” she surmised.

A visit to the site showed that a section of the property had been set up to accommodate two modular workspaces. Another container is now on site and is awaiting work to make it suitable for use by members of the police force.

The female resident urged her neighbours to think about publicly calling attention to the issue by protesting.

Another woman who lives in the area expressed concern about the impact the closure is having on their pockets at a time when many people are out of jobs.

The new container at Amity Hall Police Station that will serve as temporary space after it is retrofitted. 

“It’s about $200 from Amity Hall to Sign and then another $200 or so to Adelphi. That’s basically $1,000 to go to and fro, when that wasn’t the case before. Persons are not working, a lot of persons are not working,” she pointed out.

Councillor Michael Allen (People’s National Party, Somerton Division) added his voice to the call for the return of the police station to the community.

“Crime was on a low before, and it seems like the culprits are now using this as a stepping stone to spike up the crime due to the absence of the police station,” he lamented.

He acknowledged that there is still a police presence in the area but said the station provided residents with a greater sense of security.

“It’s not like the officers are not doing their jobs even though they are stationed at Adelphi. However, now it feels like they are passing through,” Allen said.

However, there is hope on the horizon, according to Divisional Commander for St James, Senior Superintendent Eron Samuels.

“There are plans afoot to rebuild the station, and they are far advanced and should start soon,” he revealed.

“They have to do all of the planning, and approvals, and things like that. [Meanwhile], a container is there but some retrofitting is needed for them to work from them,” Samuels told the Observer.