Adapting To Serve: St Ann Police Managing Rapid Parish Development
Police officers within the St Ann Police Division continue to demonstrate their adaptability in responding to emerging crime trends and addressing public order and traffic management issues arising from the parish’s rapid development.
Commanding Officer for the St Ann Police Division, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Carlos Russell, detailed these emerging challenges while speaking on the Force4Good Podcast.
“When you have development, there is a need for labour, and you find that persons are coming from far and wide to do manual labour. Sometimes, when these persons are laid off or fired, they do not leave. They find areas in the parish to stay, and when they don’t have work, then you know they [may] resort to criminal activities. So, you find that things like break-ins and robberies will increase,” Russell explained.
Facing this reality, SSP Russell and his team have been proactive, relying on intelligence-led policing and various investigative methods to get ahead of these trends. These efforts have contributed to a 48 percent reduction in robberies within the division.
“Our [intelligence] team would have been doing [a] very good job identifying our high-risk targets, as also the wanted persons in our space, and we have been relentless in going after them. We believe that has reaped a lot of success for us,” Russell said.
Public-order issues, particularly traffic congestion, also remain a major concern for the division. These challenges correlate with the parish’s rapid development and high level of commercial activity.
“We also have the traffic issues that come with these developments. So, you find a lot of places being constructed, but the infrastructure that needs to be in place to receive these developments is not there. For example, the road infrastructure. So, this poses a lot of problems for the police in ensuring that the roads are traffic free,” Russell explained.
To address these concerns, the St Ann Police have reviewed their traffic management plans and strengthened collaboration with the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB) to facilitate a more comprehensive and effective approach to traffic management.
“We have a traffic plan, and we have been working in collaboration with PSTEB to ensure that we have enough officers to monitor the various terminals and roads, to ensure that traffic is flowing and that we do not have congestion,” SSP Russell said.
As St Ann continues to develop, the division remains focused on adapting its policing strategies to meet the changing needs of the parish. Through intelligence-led operations, targeted investigations and collaboration with specialised units, the St Ann Police are working to maintain public safety, manage traffic and protect residents and visitors alike.
