Hanover police want JPs, pastors to step up social intervention
Published:Thursday | March 19, 2026 | 12:08 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau:
The domestic dispute numbers have not climbed, but police in Hanover are fielding calls with growing frequency. Deputy Superintendent Courtney Wilson says the parish needs stronger conflict-resolution training to stop minor disagreements from becoming police matters. He is therefore appealing to justices of the peace and ministers of religion to step up their social intervention and counselling programmes across the parish.
“I do not think the people of this parish are resolving their conflicts in an amicable way,” said Wilson while delivering the police’s report at last week’s monthly meeting of the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC).
According to Wilson, the Hanover Police Division is doing extremely well as it relates to crime fighting as the crime numbers are trending in the right direction. In comparing the statistic for January to March 2026 against the corresponding period in 2025, he said there has been an 11 .1 per cent reduction in major crimes.
“We continue to have some concerns as it relates to incidents of domestic disputes happening in the division, and one of those concerns is the frequency with which we have to intervene into domestic disputes and threats,” he stated.
INCREASE IN DOMESTIC DISPUTE INCIDENTS
Wilson’s comments mirror what was said by Superintendent Andrew Nish, the police commander for the parish, when he delivered the police’s report in February, and outlined his concern about the increasing incidents of domestic disputes in the parish.
“I think we need some conflict resolution training to assist the persons in the parish because what we are seeing is not necessarily an increase per se as it relates to the numbers but very frequent situations where the attention of the police is actually called to disputes that could have been otherwise settled in an amicable way,” said Wilson.
“We are taking this opportunity to call on our justices of the peace to intervene quickly, likewise our ministers of religion, where we see these incidents because we know that they can get out of hand,” he said, pointing out that being aware of the particular problem, the Hanover police have taken a multipronged approach towards solving it.
Wilson further explained that there are six policing districts within Hanover, pointing out that as part of the multipronged approach being adopted, each month, a social-intervention approach is organised and effected by the community safety and security departments in the schools and communities, where widely publicised meetings are held, noting that at least two such community-intervention meetings are held each month.
He added that other forms of community engagement are also held by the police with a view to ensuring that the citizenry across the parish can have some form of engagement with police personnel.
“We appreciate the level of cooperation and assistance that we are getting from the citizenry as residents continue to play their part in crime fighting,” he said. “From a policing perspective, the Hanover Police Division continues to do well in terms of its curtailing of serious crimes.”