New Old Harbour police chief talks tough on public disorder

DSP Manderson, who is a senior member of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), has been meeting with various stakeholders since taking full command three weeks ago.

The 36-year-old crime fighter brings to the fore youthful vigor and plenty experience particularly in the area of intelligence gathering and strategic planning.

Following a meeting with transport operators DSP Manderson says the series of stakeholder meetings, which will be a common feature going forward, goes way beyond day-to-day traffic control policing.

“What we are trying to do is to bring back to Old Harbour some level of public order,” he told Old Harbour News in an interview. “So it’s about the public passenger operators using the necessary parks, dropping off passengers in designated spaces. It’s about delivery trucks operating in a more responsible way; it is also about pedestrians using the road in a more responsible way.”

Though early days yet, the signs are encouraging as Old Harbour News observed most transport operators utilizing the designated transportation centres even during peak hours. Vehicular traffic has been flowing much better during rush hour with police officers strategically placed at specific areas known to create bottle necks.

He made it very clear this will be the modus operandi as long as he remains in charge.

“The peak periods for Old Harbour are what we are targeting when most of the commuters and farmers come down,” explained Manderson. “What we have sought to do is strategically place police officers throughout the township during peak periods to manage; one: pedestrians, so they don’t just cross the roads in any ad hoc manner; and two: that the public passenger vehicles and private passenger vehicles and distribution trucks, they don’t just stop anywhere blocking up traffic. So we want to keep those corridors, especially, East Street, West Street, Darlington Drive and to some extent South Street, free flowing as best as possible.”

Following also a meeting with business operators, a proposal has been placed on the table for the delivery of goods to be made only between the hours of 9:00 am and 4:00 pm Mondays through to Saturdays. If delivery must be made outside of this timeframe, owners ought to instruct the delivery crew to park elsewhere so as to not disrupt the flow of vehicular traffic. The business operators are to discuss the proposed changes with other operators who were absent to get a feedback before returning for another round of meeting with the police later this month.

“It is also about building partnerships in the community and appreciating where the community is at; how it has grown from 17,000 to several thousand… so together we can build the community together through a public partnership. So that’s what it is really about, not getting at public passenger operators; it is far more than that. It is really about building public partnership through an organized community and an organized township,” said Manderson, who in the past worked at Old Harbour briefly while at the rank of sergeant.

He argued that where there is public order criminals tend not to stay around while new residents will feel more encourage doing business in the town.

“An organize town will be to the benefit of all persons who are in Old Harbour,” he said, while expressing surprise by the high level of adherence and corporation from the public passengers operators.

“What we have said to them is that this is your work place, this is your office,” he added with regards to transport operators. “So what we have sought to do is to guide them to use their office in a more responsible way. We try not to necessarily be there with a stick over them 24 hours throughout the day.

“We let them appreciate the need for them during peak periods and during the days to use the parks and to commute in a more responsible manner.

“We are not there yet and we will not count it as success just yet because there are still some who are refusing to. But I can tell you that an overwhelming majority of the individuals and the associations are all for it and in support of it.”