Thu | Mar 19, 2026

Police youth programme donates laptops to students

Published:Thursday | March 19, 2026 | 12:08 AM
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Left: Sheldon Walters, Britany Thompson, Elizabeth Cunningham, Ashley Jones, and Justine Stone, students who recently received laptops. In the background (from left): Territorial Officer for the St Catherine North Police Division, Inspector Ishmael William
Contributed
Left: Sheldon Walters, Britany Thompson, Elizabeth Cunningham, Ashley Jones, and Justine Stone, students who recently received laptops. In the background (from left): Territorial Officer for the St Catherine North Police Division, Inspector Ishmael Williams; Assistant Police Youth Club Coordinator for the St Catherine North Police Youth Club Council, Corporal Shantel Powell, who is also the LASCO/JCF Police Officer of the Year; and donor of the computers, Donique Sinclair‑Chambers.
Territorial Officer in the St Catherine North Police Division, Inspector Ishmael Williams, presents student of the Spanish Town-based Eltham High School, Justine Stone , with a laptop, donated by Donique Sinclair-Chambers (left), during a recent handover c
Contributed
Territorial Officer in the St Catherine North Police Division, Inspector Ishmael Williams, presents student of the Spanish Town-based Eltham High School, Justine Stone , with a laptop, donated by Donique Sinclair-Chambers (left), during a recent handover ceremony.
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Several high school students have received laptops under the St Catherine North Police Community Safety and Security Peace Ambassadors in Schools Initiative, a programme designed to empower young people to become peace ambassadors.

Speaking at the recent handover ceremony at the Spanish Town Police Station in St Catherine, Assistant Police Youth Club Coordinator for the St Catherine North Police Youth Club Council, Corporal Shantel Powell, explained that once the students become peace ambassadors, “we monitor and evaluate them for a year and then measure their improvement and see if they need to undergo more training to improve their behaviour”.

“These tokens are for your benefit and development, so you are being asked to take care of them and use them for your empowerment and development. Don’t use them to do anything bad. Make use of them,” said Powell, who is also the LASCO/JCF Police Officer of the Year.

She added that many families struggle to provide the basic resources required for school. “I know that it is hard, sometimes, for children to go to school, and parents can’t find it to buy different things, and provide them with the necessary resources, so here you have a kind heart, a winning hand who has seen the need and stepped up to the cause to say, hey, here are laptops for students that can really help them get a better education,” she said.

The laptops were donated by UK-based Jamaican national Donique Sinclair-Chambers, who told students that the programme is “amazing” and that they have been given a “fantastic opportunity to engage in something so impactful on your lives, and it is definitely something that you shouldn’t take lightly”.

“It is a great opportunity for others to invest in you, for you to be shown the right way. This programme seems to be going above and beyond anything in the usual capacity of police officers, and this is something, again, you shouldn’t take lightly. It is fantastic to hear what is being done. There are other programmes that I know that are happening and other charities, but what the police are doing here is amazing work,” she added.

Justine Stone, a student at Eltham High School in Spanish Town, said the peace ambassador programme had taught him the importance of self-identity, noting that “you can’t promote peace if you are internally conflicted”.

“Leadership starts with self-awareness. Overall, peace ambassador training taught me that peace is active, not passive. This training taught me patience, as well as taught me not to assume, and most of all, taught me to ask questions respectfully rather than judging,” he said.