Police ready to respond to emergencies at schools
Published:Saturday | February 24, 2018 | 12:00 AM
The quick response by members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to the possible security threat at the Wolmer's Boys' School in Kingston last week is being cited as proof that the cops are taking seriously the safety of the nation's schools.
Director of the Safety and Security Programme in the Ministry of Education, Assistant Superintendent Coleridge Minto, says once the possible threat was reported, almost five divisions in the JCF responded.
"And so you saw from that coordinated approach that the support is there. They were ready to respond, some were on the periphery, others were in the school and the threat was taken very seriously at the very highest level, which is why the Police High Command responded the way it did in support of our schools and people," Minto told The Gleaner.
VOICE NOTE THREAT
He was supported by head of the police Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation Branch (CTOC). Assistant Commissioner Fitz Bailey, who told our news team that they are prepared and have mechanisms in place to deal with incidents like that at Wolmer's, where a student issued a voice note threatening to harm his colleagues.
"If you look at the response time in relation to the issue, that is testament that in fact we have the mechanisms in place. What we plan to do now is to ensure we do some more sensitisation among our members and other sections within the JCF," said Bailey.
"This incident (Wolmer's) shouldn't trigger a panic, there's no need for anyone to get overly nervous. First of all, the persons involved I don't think they have the capacity or the capability to carry out the action as was enunciated in the voice note.
"But we have not taken it for granted and that's why we responded the way we did," said Bailey.