Black River mayor urges New Market residents to stand up to criminals

Black River Mayor Richard Solomon is urging residents of New Market in the parish to take a strong stance against criminality in the area as they continue to collaborate with the police to keep the community safe.

Solomon, who is also the Councillor for the New Market Division in the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation (SEMC), which he chairs, warned criminals targeting the New Market area and other townships in the parish to stop their illegal activities.

The call to action came after a robbery incident in September, when gunmen targeted a supermarket in New Market and fled the scene in a grey Toyota Axio motorcar.

In addressing a meeting with various stakeholders, including representatives of the St Elizabeth police, business operators, as well as National Security Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Horace Chang, Solomon said sometimes persons come into the area with "no good intentions".

He said such individuals are intent on destroying the peace and tranquillity in the New Market space.

"New Market is a peaceful community. We believe in our community, and we don't want anything to come and infiltrate what we have going," declared Solomon.

"We don't want it (crime) here, so I would encourage us to continue to partner with the police.

"They (the criminals) would have tried it already, and we, the community, have bonded together and demonstrated that we don't want criminal elements in the space of New Market and its surroundings," the mayor indicated.

Solomon expressed confidence that with residents’ support, criminals will not be able to take hold of the township.

He encouraged the residents to share information, assuring them that there are secure channels such as 119 and 311, to report concerns.

"... Even the 'baddest' person, when he is in a crisis, who do you think he calls on? The police," Solomon asserted.

Meanwhile, Superintendent Coleridge Minto, head of the St Elizabeth police, said law enforcers have responded to major crimes in the New Market area.

Despite a decline in major crimes in the town so far this year, Minto said 11 cases, including two murders, are still too many for the typically peaceful community.

"To date, we have seen 223 major crimes recorded in the parish. This is compared to 337 for the similar period (last year), this showing a reduction of 114 major crimes or 34 per cent," Minto outlined.

"Of the 223 major crimes recorded across the parish, the New Market area accounts for 11 cases, which include two murders, and even with 11 (major) crimes, it's still 11 too many.

"Whilst 11 (major crimes for New Market) is showing a decrease when compared to 16 (major crimes) for the similar period last year, we have still implemented a number of strategies to bring major crimes even further down," the parish top cop indicated.

Among the implemented strategies are the deployment of a beat patrol team in the town of New Market, which Minto said has resulted in no major crimes reported there since October.