Reduced fear of reprisals prompts police to lift curfews in sections of Manchester

MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Police here say consideration is being given to lift curfews imposed in several Manchester communities by this weekend amid a reported reduction in the risk of reprisals attacks among other criminal activity.

Operations officer for Manchester Deputy Superintendent Valdin Amos said following consultations with community leaders the police are contemplating utilising other security measures to maintain peace in troubled areas.

“The considerations are based on [the fact] that it restricts movement of all individuals in the community. I don’t think that the good should be punished for the bad. We cannot continue along that way. It disrupts business and livelihoods. We have gone to great lengths to convince these persons that the actions resulting in the curfews are to protect everyone,” Amos told councillors at Thursday’s sitting of the Manchester Municipal Corporation.

He said while the aim of curfews is to protect lives, people’s businesses suffer from lockdowns.

“When they are losing their livelihood, the inconvenience and the strain on the community police relationship… It requires significant police presence and it displaces crime to other areas and it limits access to some services during the curfew times, because people may want to go to the pharmacy to get their medication and they cannot move,” said Amos.

He told councillors that the areas under review for the lifting of the curfew include Knockpatrick, Belretiro, Comfort, Land Settlement, and Royal Flat.

“We have been meeting consistently with the communities and we are policing by consensus. We cannot police these areas by ourselves, it must be by consensus and only by consensus our action is legitimate… [Unless] persons accept the police in the community you will not attain [results],” he said.

“We have some more dialogue that will be done in Knockpatrick and Old England before the weekend is over with a view of lifting these curfews, because we are of the opinion that the [curfew] served its purpose in some areas, it may continue in areas where the risks is very high, but we will not do it without consulting the community members,” added Amos.

Residents of Greenvale hold hands as they pray on Wednesday evening during a meeting with the Manchester police where it was announced that the long-running curfew in the area would be lifted. Kasey Williams

A day earlier, head of the Manchester Police Deputy Superintendent Odean Dennis told residents of Greenvale that a curfew which had been imposed since last week would be lifted once the community remained free of major crimes.

“As of tomorrow (Thursday) we will not be having the curfew element of the measures we have put in place in the community. We have assessed the situation and to the best of the knowledge that we have gained… We are of the belief that the risk has been reduced to a level now where the curfew element can be lifted,” Dennis said Wednesday evening at a meeting with residents at the Greenvale community centre.

A nightly curfew was imposed in Greenvale last Monday, two days after a man was shot in the face while sitting in a vehicle in a section of the community.

In the meantime, Amos has raised concern over an increase in road fatalities in Manchester so far this year.

Amos said up to July 8 the parish recorded 14 fatal collisions resulting in 16 deaths.

“This is in comparison to seven fatal collisions last year resulting in eight deaths. We cannot continue like this. These accidents are a burden on the health system. When you have an accident whatever is being done at the hospital all the resources are channelled into the emergency areas to assist persons who are involved in these accidents,” noted Amos.

He said crash hot spots including Pen Hill, Spur Tree Hill, and the Winston Jones Highway are being policed more.

“You will see the targeting of motorbikes which are unlicensed, persons not wearing the necessary safety gears, persons who are carelessly driving on the road not wearing their seatbelts. We will continue, because the objective is to save lives and to save our loved ones from being killed on the road by carelessness,” said Amos.