Police armoury reopens with modern security features

The Police Armoury in Kingston was put back into operation yesterday with major changes to the systems and procedures governing the way guns and ammunition are stored there.

At the same time, Police Commissioner Owen Ellington said the policemen and women who will staff the Elletson Road facility were specially selected and have been subjected to rigorous testing.

"They will be subjected to random polygraph examinations from time to time because it is important that we ensure that the integrity of the individuals and the facility is preserved," Ellington said during a ceremony preceding the armoury reopening.

"We are ensuring that they are men and women of the highest integrity," he added.

In-built features

The overhauled system at the armoury, according to National Security Minister Senator Dwight Nelson, includes a number of in-built security features.

Nelson, while refusing to discuss specific aspects of the new system, said one of the main features was the installation of security cameras inside and outside the premises.

"There is a database to say when who entered and when they leave ... the time and day and inside the building; there are cameras all around," he told The Gleaner.

Nelson said this would replace a system that was "antiquated, outdated and deficient".

"You could have taken a thousand guns out there and nobody would have missed them," he said.

The completely computerised system installed at the armoury came out of an audit conducted after 19 guns and more than 11,000 rounds of ammunition seized at Munster Road, in St Andrew, were traced back to the Elletson Road facility.

Former police Sergeant Russell Robinson, businessman Garnett Pennington and former grounds-keepers at the armoury, Charles Morris and David Blagrove, were arrested and charged in connection with the find.

Pennington, believed to be the mastermind, Morris and Blagrove have pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Robinson is still on trial.