Blair urges Jamaicans to cooperate with police

Chairman of the Peace Management Initiative (PMI), Herro Blair, is encouraging residents in communities affected by criminal acts to cooperate with the police and provide whatever information they might have to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Speaking against the backdrop of the wave of beheadings that have shocked the nation over the past week, Blair told The Gleaner he was encouraging the people in the affected communities of Lauriston, St Catherine, and Bedward Gardens, St Andrew, to tell the police what they know.

"We cannot continue to have this kind of barbarism in our nation. These barbaric crimes must cease and it can only cease when the

police have credible intelligence," the PMI head stated.

Blair said he was cognisant of the fact that persons were fearful, but assured them that provisions were in place for their safety, so they should not be afraid to come forward with what they know and talk to the police.

"The security forces are doing their utmost best and we are praying for them every day and ask God to help them as they try to secure us," he said. "But they cannot finish working unless they have the cooperation of the people in the communities."

Confident in his team

He assured that he had every confidence in his strong, experienced PMI team that was already in the field trying to help the families in the affected communities through the traumatic situations.

Last week, 19-year-old Scott Thomas; 40-year-old Charmaine Gloria Rattray and her 19-year-old daughter Joeith Lynch were brutally decapitated in their homes in Lauriston.

Then on the weekend, in Bedward Gardens, 37-year-old Gary Smith, also known as 'Bobby' or 'Druggist', was dragged from his home in the middle of the night, away from his two children, and beheaded.

The PMI has been working in several war-torn communities to help implement transformation programmes.

anastasia.cunningham@gleanerjm.com