Flashing lights alert criminals of police operations
Superintendent pleads for motorists to desist from warning others
Published:Monday | June 13, 2022 | 12:07 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
SUPERINTENDENT OF Police in charge of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Hanover Division, Sharon Beeput, has issued a plea for motorists to stop signalling others with flashing lights when there is an ongoing police operation.
Her plea came against the background of a recent triple fatal accident occurring in that parish on Sunday, June 5, where two illegal guns were subsequently found by the police in one of the vehicles involved in the accident.
“Police officers were conducting spot checks along the Mosquito Cove main road, and it is reported that a Nissan Latio motor car was heading towards the police team. However, they (persons in Nissan) were alerted by passing motorists of the presence of the police officers and, as a result of that, the motor car turned around to head in the opposite direction,” she stated.
She continued to explain that the police officers doing the spot check were notified of an accident a short distance away from where they were, in an area known as Barbican, and, on visiting the scene, they discovered that the said Nissan motorcar had collided with a Toyota Hiace minibus that was transporting some passengers, who were visitors to the island, from Montego Bay to Negril.
According to Beeput, the four tourists and the driver of the minibus were injured and taken to hospital, while the three occupants of the Nissan motor car were pronounced dead.
“Two (illegal) firearms were recovered relative to the scene of the accident, which brings to nine firearms that we have recovered in the parish since the start of the year,” she informed.
MURDER CHARGE
The occupants of the Nissan car in which the fatalities occurred were identified as Jamain Scott, Courtney Lazarus and Javade Reid, all 27 years old and all from different areas in Montego Bay, St James, with Lazarus out on bail on a murder charge in St James, on condition that he is not to be seen in St James or Hanover.
“Just to say that the flashing of lights (motor vehicle) will alert criminal elements as to the position and operations of the police, which will allow criminals to evade the dragnets that are set by the police,” Beeput pointed out.
“It further promotes criminal activity by not preventing, but only delaying, criminal actions, and also puts the general public at risk,” she said.
She said that it is incumbent on every law-abiding citizen to assist in crime-reduction activities across the island, by stopping making criminals aware of police positions, locations or operations, which can be a life-saving activity.
“So, I am appealing to all law-abiding citizens to desist from alerting motorists (of police activities) with flashing motor vehicle lights while on the roadways. Remember, your life, those of your family members and colleagues, can be affected,” she said.