Party goers and organisers should be cautious at Christmas says police
During the Christmas season, numerous festive events are held in which people must exercise caution in attendance.
In a media release, head of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Corporate Communications Unit, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Stephanie Lindsay shared that “If you know that there is gang conflict and other things happening in [a] space and you see an event pop up, don’t attend. Choose somewhere else to go. It’s all in the interest of safety and security”.
She pointed out that innocent party goers may end up getting injured from disputes between rival gangs. “Where you have gang conflicts, the gangsters will use any and every opportunity to get at their opponents,” Lindsay said. “We see where you have gangsters operating in the same space as the innocent citizens and they are attacked by their opponents. Oftentimes, the innocent citizens, who have nothing to do with the conflict, they are the ones that are so affected,” she added.
The Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) also gave advice to event organisers. She reminded them that they were required, under the law, to have permits from the relevant authorities for events that they are staging. “Make sure that you apply for your permit within the right time. The law says that this should be at least 10 days before the event, so if you plan to have an event around Christmas time, then all your permits should be in place by now. We just want everybody to have a good time,” she said.
She urged event organisers to abide by the Noise Abatement Act and to play music at a tolerable level. You have to take your neighbours and other persons into consideration. We are aware and we know that at this time of the year, people want to go about and have their festivities, and we encourage people to have a good time, but we want persons to just be mindful of each other so that we can all coexist,” she said.
SSP Lindsay further encouraged Jamaicans to exercise greater care on the roads. She said persons should not be texting, drinking, or doing other activities while operating a vehicle, as these activities are distracting and can cause road accidents.
