Commissioner of Police Owen Ellington has reaffirmed the importance of winning the hearts and minds of residents south of Cross Roads even as the security forces take the fight to deadly gangs.
Ellington expressed confidence that the success of police operations would convince persons in volatile communities to entrust their security in the hands of lawmen rather than mobsters.
“I think, over time, gradually this will happen … . It is incumbent on the police and the military to protect them in their communities and eliminate this idea of gangs being protectors,” he said on Thursday during a raid in Hannah Town and Craig Town in the Kingston Western Division.
“It is very important … . We can’t do what we are doing without public trust,” he stressed. “It is our greatest asset, and anytime that we find that we are not able to garner trust, it will be more difficult, if not impossible, to carry our work.
“The fact that we are seeing success in many areas, that means better intelligence in many areas,” Ellington said.
“They are tolerating us. They are being patient with us. It is going to be a very long journey for us, but we are committed to the task.”
When Ellington arrived on the scene in Jones Town just before midday, policemen and soldiers were already foraging for illegal weapons and other items as they combed the communities in an operation that commenced before dawn.
The top cop, surrounded by law enforcers, proceeded on to Benbow Street, Penn Street and in other sections of Jones Town and Craig Town.
Police personnel on Thursday continued to seize trendy motorcycles which were piled on to wreckers as the cops moved to clamp down on criminal suspects in the division.
A new police arm called the Street Crimes Unit, established a month ago by the police commissioner, took away more than 20 motorcycles in Half-Way Tree Square on Wednesday.
The Gleaner team also witnessed several men being detained.
At least three illegal firearms – an M16, an AK-47 and a shotgun – along with several rounds of ammunition were seized in yesterday’s operation.
Ellington told The Gleaner that he expects a fulsome report on that and other aspects of the operation.
Despite the inconvenience of house-to-house searches and residents being subjected to probing questions, the people of South St Andrew appeared receptive to the police, which was not lost on Ellington.
“The situation here is much more favourable, which facilitates very detailed cordon-and-search operations,” Ellington told The Gleaner.
“The officers did not have much to contend with in terms of their own personal security in launching this operation, so they were able to devote most of the time to doing the search operations,” he added.
“This means that they can be out of here more quickly than in another area,” Ellington said.
Ellington expressed satisfaction with the reception he received from the community as residents rushed to communicate with him.
As Ellington walked by, one woman quipped: “You take my picture and I was not even smiling.”
The comment elicited laughter from the team of senior cops accompanying the commissioner.
“It is not just about me. To the extent that they (residents) have been receptive to me, as an individual, means that the officers and men on the ground who have been here before me have been doing a good job in terms of bridging the gap in our relation,” asserted Ellington.
“This is good because we work for the citizens and we always encπourage our members to be respectful to the citizens to protect their rights, so I am not surprised that we are getting this kind of reception,” the police chief added.
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