Warmington lashes police leadership in Old Harbour

Speaking in the parliament on Tuesday, Warmington expressed great disquiet about the police’s apparent penchant to shut down birthday parties and wakes early in accordance with the ongoing public state of emergency (SOE) enforced in the parish since September 2019.

The government MP who is known for freely speaking his mind without fear or favour, even against his own party, highlighted the record increase in murders in the sub-division as grounds for an urgent review of the leadership there.

The Old Harbour sub-division is presently headed by DSP Damion Manderson, who is also a member of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB).

Last year the police sub-division of Old Harbour, which falls under St Catherine South Division, recorded 35 murders, the highest ever in history, while there were noticeable increases in all major crimes in the area when compared to the previous year.

The veteran politician also hinted, in his contribution in the House which unanimously voted for an extension of the SOE in East Kingston until April 25, that there might be rancor presently between the sub-division’s hierarchy and officers lower in rank.

“The issue is if the leaders do not have the support of the rank and file (officers) they are never going to succeed. When the rank and file have lost confidence in their leadership they are going to have problems.

“If you look at Old Harbour, my concern is that in 2018 there were 25 murders in Old Harbour and its environs. In 2019 it jumped to 35, which represent the highest number of murders ever recorded in the history of that sub-division. In 2018 there were 26 shootings; in 2019 it jump to 33. Robberies: there were 21 in 2018, it went up to 24 in 2019. Including break-ins, rapes, aggravated assault which makes up the other categories of the major crimes in this sub-division, (the police) recorded a total 105 major crimes in 2018 and 124 in 2019.

“The only thing the police does (sic) in Old Harbour effectively is to shut down birthday parties and set-ups (wakes). And I don’t believe that is what the police was assigned to do in that area,” the 68-year-old parliamentarian said.

“The leadership in that area you need to look at them to see if whether or not what they are doing is effective, whether or not they are offering proper leadership to the rank and file out in Old Harbour, which they are not doing. So they need to look at the leadership,” he continued with security minister Dr Horace Chang among those looking on.

“I have been to two set-ups recently and the police arrived at 10:15 pm to lock down the set-up and I made it clear that the set-up naa lock down, they have to lock me up first… because we are there to sympathise with (the grieving family).”

Shutting down birthday parties and wakes “is not what the police supposed to be doing” even though an SOE is in effect, Warmington argued.

Under the current state of emergency, citizens are prohibited from being out in public spaces beyond 11:00 pm each day.

“They need to go out there to curb crime, to find the gangsters and leave the parties and set-ups alone, particularly set-ups when people are grieving,” Warmington charged.

Meantime, Warmington, who said he’s in support of the SOE extension in East Kingston, suggested that curfews be also imposed in tandem with the SOEs as a strategy to fight crime.

“I believe when we have these states of emergency we need to have curfew and cordon off the areas. We know where the troubled spots are, we know who the troublemakers are,” he said while opposition members applaud him in support of his view.

When contacted by Old Harbour News, DSP Manderson, who has been in charge of Old Harbour since April 2019, said: “I would allow politicians to be politicians and I would continue to be a police officer and that’s all I have to say.”