Councillor calls for police uniforms to be gazetted

 

Councillor for the Waterford Division, Fenley Douglas, is urging the government to gazette the Jamaica Constabulary Force uniform, similar to that of the Jamaica Defence Force. 

 

Speaking at the recent sitting of the St. Catherine Municipal Corporation, Mr. Douglas said the move would deter criminals from wearing police-style clothing to deceive citizens. 

 

His call follows the October 5 mass shooting in Commodore, Linstead, St. Catherine where nine people were shot. Five of them, including a four-year-old girl, were killed. 

 

Police said the attackers were dressed like cops. 

 

"They (the community members) did not move as how they should have moved because the criminals said 'police', and based on the apparatus that they were in, some of them were dressed like police officers. And because of that, chairman, somebody dressed as a police officer and you know you're not a criminal, you're not going to run to save your life. So they stood up, chairman, and they were slaughtered like cattle," he bemoaned. 

 

Mr. Douglas noted that several government groups wear blue denim, making it hard to tell them apart from JCF members, especially from a distance.

 

He was speaking at the recent monthly meeting of the St. Catherine Municipal Corporation.