Police Units Being Merged, New Units Created

Posted by news on July 3, 2009 , No comment

The Narcotics Division, Operation Kingfish and the Major Investigation Task Force will be merged to become part of a new “Transnational Crime and Narcotics Division”. This move was announced yesterday by Acting Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Crime and Operations portfolios Owen Ellington while speaking at a news conference at Eden Gardens in Kingston.

The move to merge these three of the Jamaican police’s four major units is said to be an effort to strengthen the Jamaica constabulary’s structure and organization in order to respond more effectively to the international connections being established by criminals in Jamaica.

Additionally, the Crime and Operations portfolios will be combined in a bid to get better coordination of these areas along with intelligence, community safety and territorial policing. A “Future Operations Policing Unit” has also been added to the Operations Branch, and it will assist with planning support to police divisions and units that are tackling the lotto scam, extortion and the involvement of major criminal networks in praedial larceny.

Additionally, a Communication Intelligence Unit and a Digital Forensics Sub Unit have been set up in an effort to bolster the National Intelligence Bureau. Officers who will man these units have been specially trained to provide support to detectives in locating and developing evidence when communication technology is used to commit crimes.

Finally, the Beat and Foot Patrol Unit has been “resurrected”, and it will operate from the patrol division at Elletson Road Police Station. “It will provide support to the Metro Division in pressure points such as plazas, markets, bus stops, transport centres, cash centres and major recreation areas,” said Ellington.

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