Councillors call for stricter monitoring of deportees after deadly Mandeville shootout

 

Councillors in the Manchester Municipal Corporation are calling for stricter monitoring of deportees. 

 

It follows Tuesday's four-hour standoff on Caledonia Road in Mandeville.

 

Fifty-four-year-old Dave Alfrancis Wilson, also known as 'Brown Man', was fatally shot by police after he engaged them in a shootout. 

 

Hours earlier, he is suspected to have killed a 31-year-old accountant, Adrian Bernard, after a dispute over an item. 

 

Wilson was deported from Canada at least on two separate occasions.

 

During Thursday's meeting of the Manchester Municipal Corporation, Councillor for the Bellefield Division Mario Mitchell and Chairman Donovan Mitchell questioned Inspector Bertlyn Lloyd of the Manchester Community Safety and Security Branch about the measures in place to monitor deportees. 

 

Councillor Mitchell said he raised a similar concern last November after US President Donald Trump was re-elected.

 

"Somebody like that should have been on the radar, somebody like that should have been under a microscope. And the begs the question, Chairman, also, you know, I heard in the media also that PTSD was a factor and he was a veteran in the US Army or the Canadian. But a similar crime like this, now not as serious as the one here, was already committed in Canada. So, it begs the question again... when Donald Trump was re-elected, I asked the question in this very council about those persons who are coming in by deportation, are we monitoring them?"

 

Responding to the concerns, Inspector Lloyd said she will direct the concerns to Commanding Officer for Manchester Superintendent Carey Duncan. 

 

But Inspector Lloyd's response did not sit well with Mayor Mitchell.

 

"I thought there was a unit within the Jamaica Constabulary Force or a section that will be monitoring deportees. They come and you watch their movements and all of that. And so, it would be easy for the communities or the country to know what these were charged for, what are they here for, you monitor them, because for that type of situation that happens on Calidonia Road...I think if we don't have it, or if we have it, it has to be monitoring more and more because more deportees are coming back to Jamaica than normal," he contended.

 

In June, Minister of National Security Dr. Horace Chang said the government is considering the introduction of electronic tagging for deportees as part of efforts to boost national security. 

 

He said the move was to better monitor individuals who may pose challenges upon return. 

 

The measure forms part of a broader deportation response action plan recently approved by Cabinet as to make a continues to manage a steady influx of nationals repatriated from the United States.