COMMANDER of ‘C’ Division, Calvin Brutus has lamented the lack of cooperation by some serious crime victims, which he said has impacted greatly in them being able to complete some criminal investigations.

Brutus made the comments when he presented a report to Commissioner of Police Leslie James who visited the division recently. “Our challenges include a lack of cooperation with some victims and witness in relation to murders in particular, and this is further exacerbated by some victims of alleged robberies who do not give a true account of what transpired,” Brutus indicated.

The police have also been able to remove some 11 firearms and ammunition from off the street up to mid-October, from within the division. They also seized and confiscated a quantity of narcotics and illegal substances. ‘C’ Division has also enjoyed a number of successes in the area of prosecutions and committals, according to Senior Superintendent Brutus, that have contributed to a decline in crime in the division.

He made reference to separate instances, whereby two persons reported to the police that they were robbed and that the persons who robbed them had used firearms in the process. However, when the police checked the CCTV footage from a nearby building which recorded the robbery, it showed that the victims were being dishonest and uttered false information to the police.

There was also another incident involving a businessman who was robbed. He told the police that the perpetrator was of a particular ethnicity, however, when the police checked the CCTV footage from his business place, they found that the ethnicity of the persons who carry out the robbery were not as the victim had claimed. Between January to mid-October this year, Brutus said the division recorded some instances of robberies and murders, especially with the use of firearms, as well as rape and break and enter and larceny. The latter, according to the commander, is most prevalent.

As it relates to the timings of the incidents, the police found that most instances of break and enter and larceny, took place between 18:00hrs and midnight. Armed with that information, efforts were made to address the issue.

Brutus also appraised the attentive gathering that a number of strategies have been implemented to address the areas of concerns, especially on the instances of crime and accidents, following discussions he had with the division’s management team. The commander spoke of heightened patrols, increasing road blocks, cordon and searches and networking with the other police divisions, as well as, improving the rapport with the members of the public. The latter is being done through youth initiatives and collaboration with the scouts and station management, as well as, the Community Policing Group (CPG).

In addition to the normal gazetted ranks of the force who are stationed in the division, Brutus indicated that the police are ably assisted by more than 1,000 members of the CPG Group and ancillary staff. These moves, are said to be sitting well the residents in the division and other stakeholders, and according to Brutus, they are all in an effort to provide a better platform for the effective delivery of service and protection for members of the public.

Increasing the number of ranks who are functioning in the traffic department is also an initiative that was taken to address the issue of accidents, according to Brutus, along with interaction with members of the public, the monitoring of speed limit violations and driving under the influence of alcohol. The increase in the number of ranks serving the traffic department is also aimed at proper traffic management and control around the locations where the road expansion works are being carried out, said the commander. The commissioner of police and his team were also told of the division’s readiness for Local Government Elections (LGEs).

Meanwhile, Brutus said that inadequate housing for ranks living out-of-town but are asked to serve in the division, is also another challenge for the police in ‘C’ Division. The force administration is actively addressing this issue through its ‘Infrastructure’ platform, which is one of the key areas on Commissioner James’ agenda.