Rebuilding of Granville Police Station on the cards
Published:Saturday | April 15, 2023 | 1:15 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Acting Superintendent Eron Samuels says plans are in place for the long-awaited rebuilding of the Granville Police Station in St James, which was destroyed by a fire in May 2021.
Residents of Granville are contending that the continued absence of the police station has left them at the mercy of rampaging criminals.
“ ... We are still in the process of organising ourselves to get a station rebuilt,” Samuels said while delivering the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s report at Thursday’s monthly meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC).
“I know that there is a process that has been started, so we are just awaiting the procurement and all those other finer details for it to be rebuilt,” explained Samuels.
He urged residents who may need the assistance of the police to reach out via the emergency numbers.
“I remind you that the 119 number still works and we are very responsive to the requests made of the police emergency team, and we conduct follow-ups. Sometimes when we get these calls, based on what is happening elsewhere, we have the challenge to see what is more important, but I can assure you that as long as we get a report, we will respond to it,” said Samuels.
Before Samuels’ statement, Granville Councillor Michael Troupe pointed to the need to quickly rebuild the police station, arguing that without it, residents are left at the mercy of marauding criminals.
“The Granville Police Station is a major problem for the citizens of Granville, as they have had a couple of meetings and that is the major issue. They are complaining that they cannot afford the fare to go elsewhere to make reports, and on Tuesday morning, there was a robbery at the gas station, and they were calling the police number and could not get through,” said Troupe.
On May 18, 2021, a $20-million fire destroyed the Granville Police Station, which served more than 7,000 residents in Granville and surrounding communities.
Since then, there have been numerous calls for the rebuilding to be fast-tracked as while major crimes are on the decrease, petty crimes have become rampant. There are fears that, if left unchecked, these could balloon into more serious offences.
Samuels noted that St James, on a whole, was seeing a major reduction in murders. He expressed hope that the trend would continue.
“Since the start of the year, we have seen a 40 per cent decline in murders in the parish of St James. All of this is due to our efforts, as we have been pushing our officers and our equipment really hard,” said Samuels. “I am asking for support from the members of the StJMC as we want to push for a largely community-based approach to crime-fighting, and I believe the political representatives are key in this regard.”