BLACK RIVER, St Elizabeth — Three months into his assignment as head of the St Elizabeth Police Division, Deputy Superintendent of Police Coleridge Minto has earned high praise for his work.

At the most recent monthly meeting of the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation, councillors from both political sides rose to applaud Minto for what they described as his proactive, “practical”, and hands-on approach to crime fighting.

“I want to commend you for the leadership you have provided so far,” said Richard Solomon (Jamaica Labour Party – JLP), councillor for the New Market Division.

“I can honestly say I’ve seen an increase in the police presence right across the parish. Every turn I turn, I see a group of police making a spot check. I welcome it, every law-abiding citizen will appreciate it,” he added.

Former mayor of Black River, Everton Fisher, (People’s National Party – PNP) Balaclava Division, who criticised the police high command in July (shortly after Minto’s arrival) for what he said was the too-frequent transfer of divisional commanders in St Elizabeth, said Minto had made a very good start.

“I have seen where you are a more practical person than many of your predecessors. I am on your side…I commend you,” said Fisher.

Withney Smith-Currie (JLP, Brompton Division) spoke of a recent experience when on driving into Black River, St Elizabeth’s capital, she saw Minto and a large group of police personnel walking the streets.

Her immediate response was that a major crime of some sort had just happened. As it turned out, she said, the police were merely making their presence felt – meeting and talking to people.

“…Everybody was excited, there was no crime happening but the ‘supe’ [Minto] with police were creating a presence, talking to people including schoolboys… The scenery was something that I admired…” she said, adding that a crime shouldn’t have to happen before police are seen in their numbers.

“It’s a positive move in the right direction, and spot checks across the parish are commendable,” Smith-Currie added.

Others, including Donovan Pagon (PNP, Braes River Division) and Cetany Holness (JLP, Junction Division) also rose to commend the new divisional chief.

And when mayor of Black River and chairman of the council Derrick Sangster (JLP), Mountainside Division, summed up the overall sentiment by likening Minto to a breath of “fresh air”, councillors rapped the desks with their knuckles in agreement.

They were particularly pleased by Minto’s pledge during his presentation to pay special attention to safety in schools.

While there had been no reports of anything “major” going wrong in schools since their reopening following the long summer break, Minto said he had already met with some school principals and deans of discipline as part of an effort to build an alliance and ensure early interventions when needed.

“I am a man with a passion for safety…” said Minto, who is a former director of Safety and Security in Jamaican schools.

He said that while there were not enough police personnel to place one in each school, resource officers already deployed will be asked to “roam” as needed.

Minto told the council that there had been 20 murders in St Elizabeth from January up to September 14 (the day of the monthly meeting), down from 29 for the same period in 2022. That’s a continuation of the downward trend he inherited from his predecessor Superintendent Kenneth Chin in mid-year.

Noting that 10 murders resulted from domestic disputes, he urged councillors and all political representatives to do their part in influencing people to resolve differences in a non-violent way.

The police in partnership with the Domestic Violence Centre and the Restorative Justice arm of the Ministry of Justice will be rolling out a series of domestic violence symposiums and workshops in communities across the parish, Minto said.

Seventy per cent of the murders in St Elizabeth so far this year were carried out by the gun, he said.

Gun and ammunition seizures by the police were showing a decided increase. There had been 24 firearm seizures which was already more than for the entire 2022, he said.

Robberies involving men on motorcycles and cars carrying high-powered weapons and handguns targeting small businesses, including bars and shops, remained a major challenge, the St Elizabeth police chief said.

Poker boxes remained of “great interest” to criminals. As a result police personnel attended training sessions conducted by Betting, Gaming & Lotteries Commission “just to ensure that officers have a better understanding of how to treat with poker boxes…”

As part of an anti-robbery initiative, police were paying special attention to motorcyclists, resulting in the seizure of a number of bikes – including 43 over the previous two weeks – for serious traffic breaches such as driving without a licence, driving an uninsured motor bike, and in almost all cases driving without helmets.

Minto said hundreds of bikes seized over time were at police stations across St Elizabeth. “We seize them unlicensed, unregistered, uninsured. Tomorrow, they go and get another. In some cases we have had reports of stolen bikes… It continues to be a challenge [but] my team is prepared to continue to enforce the law,” he said.

Farm theft would be getting extra special attention in the immediate future, said Minto, with plans in place for a senior police officer to be assigned to St Elizabeth to assist in the setting up of community groups such as farm watches.

The police would be seeking the assistance of political representatives in that regard, he said.

He noted that there were continuing reports of animal theft with criminals even being caught with stolen cows in cars on at least two occasions. Against the backdrop of recent fatalities and serious injuries in neighbouring Westmoreland, following motor vehicular collisions with cattle, Minto noted that the problem of stray animals was also a sore point in St Elizabeth.

“Our farmers must understand that they too have a duty of care to their own animals,” he said.

He also urged motor vehicle owners to be more vigilant in protecting their property.

“When you rent out your vehicle, you are increasing the risk of it being stolen, you are increasing the risk of it being used in the commission of a crime, oftentimes the owners of the vehicles say they did not know the persons.

“A man rent out his car for $6,000 a day…A $2-million vehicle, you rent it to somebody who you don’t know for $6,000 a day?” asked Minto incredulously.

In one case criminals had gone to a Santa Cruz car mart and removed cars overnight, he said.

He emphasised that crime is an “organised activity” and likewise people should respond in an organised way.

Minto spoke of one bar owner who had grilled the inside of the window as well as outside but “somebody was able to cut the outside grill take out the window then cut the other grill…It shows the extent of the problem…”

He said the police remained committed to recapturing all eight people who broke out of the Black River police lockup on June 19. That high-profile incident triggered the replacement of Chin for Minto.

Since then, one escapee, Richard Brown, wanted for four counts of robbery and illegal possession of firearm and ammunition, had been recaptured.

The remains of a man suspected to be another escapee had also been found. The results of forensic tests were being awaited for identity confirmation, he said.

“I continue to make an appeal to people of St Elizabeth to share any information with us… intelligence coming to us suggests some [escapees] are still in criminal activities and there has been an uptick in robberies in recent weeks…It is in our interest to identify them and those who are harbouring them, feeding them, supplying them with any form of goods or services…,” said Minto.

“We have made it clear that persons found harbouring any of these people will be held to account,” he said.