(Jamaica Observer) – Fearing that their intervention could have resulted in the loss of innocent lives, police on Sunday stood by and watched as heavily armed thugs from the 100 Lane and Park Lane communities off Red Hills Road in St Andrew traded bullets in a deadly pre-dawn firefight.
Head of anti-crime at the Constant Spring Police Station, Deputy Superintendent Altermoth ‘Parra’ Campbell, said that the cops’ decision to hold their ground as the gunmen – some dressed in police attire and bullet-proof vests – exchanged fire demonstrated “good judgement”, as it may have prevented an even worse outcome.
“It is not that we did not want to intervene, but because of the amount of shots that were firing in that little compact community, for the police to take part in it you would probably hear that a whole heap of people would be dead down there,” said Campbell.
“With the amount of spent shells that we took from that little community, if the police had even fired 50 rounds, it would have only made it worse. So it was good judgement on the part of the police to never retaliate in any way. Not one shot was fired by the police,” Campbell added.
He said that the gunmen were seen running to and fro in the communities, firing at will. The incident occurred about 3 am.
When the gunfire ended, an unidentified man, believed to be one of the gunmen, was found suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to the University Hospital of the West Indies where he died while being treated.
His death sparked a demonstration by residents, who used debris to block a section of Red Hills Road. The roadblock was, however, quickly cleared by the cops.
Police suspect that the dead man was not from the area, and that he was an “importee” into the rivalry.
More than 100 shell casings from AK47 and M16 assault rifles, shotguns and 9mm pistols were taken from the scene by the police. Most of them, however, were already removed by the residents, police said.
“This just shows how these people (residents) operate,” interjected another senior cop with responsibility for the area.
“Everybody in the community know about the guns that are there. You could cordon off the entire place; you won’t find one gun. The only way you find a gun is when you actually take it off a man. And these are the same people that don’t know anything and cry about gunmen terrorising them. This is what the police have to face every day,” lamented the policeman.
Both communities run parallel within metres of each other, and are separated only by small tracks and roads. The layout makes it relatively easy for gunmen from the area to escape from police.
According to Campbell, things had been calm for months until Labour Day when men from the two communities had a falling out at a street dance held at 100 Lane.
“One set of man go there and said that the music must turn off. And from the music turn off gunshot start firing,” said Campbell. “Is the same incident cause what happened up there last night.”
The police, he said, are still maintaining a presence in the area.
Their decision not to engage the warring factions came just days after National Security Minister Senator Dwight Nelson set off a firestorm of criticism for referring to innocent people killed in the security forces’ war on crime as collateral damage.
Nelson made the comment while pledging to members of the Police Federation at their 66th annual conference in Trelawny last Wednesday that he would retain top lawyers to defend cops accused of crimes.
According to Nelson, too often crime fighters put their lives on the line in the struggle for our freedom only to find themselves the victims of their own protective actions and end up in court at great legal cost to themselves and the Federation.
“I pledge to you today that I will use every effort to assemble a team of first-class legal officers to defend policemen when they are hauled before the court like common criminals,” Nelson told the conference.
