Traffic cop killed in Manchester compliments of the govt

[Dr.Dudd]

Traffic cop killed in Manchester
Thursday, 10 December 2009
The life of another member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has been snuffed out by gunmen, this time in Manchester.

Constable Tussaine James, who was a traffic cop attached to the Mandeville Police Station, was killed outside his house Wednesday night.

It is reported that shortly after 8 o'clock the uniformed cop left work and drove to his home on Fisher Road in Mandeville.

He was opening his front door when he was attacked by gunmen who shot him several times.

They stole his service pistol.

Constable James was pronounced dead at hospital.

And the Councillor for the Mandeville Division Sally Porteous is calling for the return of the death penalty.

Lashing out at the killing of Constable James Ms Porteous called his murder another in a series of senseless acts that have taken place in Mandeville recently.

She said the culture of killing is unacceptable must be stopped.

Ms Porteous asserted that the country can no longer sit back and debate what should happen to those who snuff out a life and continue to live.

Killers she insisted must know that if they are prepared to take someone else's life theirs will be taken from them.

Constable James is the eleventh policeman murdered since the start of the year.

[Dr.Dudd]

Re: Traffic cop killed in Manchester compliments of the govt

Cop’s murder leaves Mandeville residents in fear

BY GARFIELD MYERS Editor-at-Large South/Central Bureau [email protected]

Friday, December 11, 2009


MANDEVILLE, Manchester -- The fear factor in Manchester went up another notch with the shooting death on Wednesday night of police constable Toussaint James at the entrance to his home on Fisher Road in Mandeville.

Police say the 34-year-old traffic policeman, who got married last year and is the father of one, was still in uniform after a day's work when he was pounced on by two men and shot several times following a struggle. His licensed firearm, said to be a Walther 9mm pistol, was taken by his attackers who were subsequently seen running from the area.

The acting chief of police in Manchester, Supt Howard Francis, told the Observer that police investigators were "following some leads". Francis confirmed that counselling sessions took place yesterday for colleagues of the deceased. James had served the Jamaica Constabulary for 11 years and nine months.


JAMES... murdered outside home


The constable's murder took the number of police personnel murdered since the start of the year to 11. His death brings the murder toll in this south central parish, so far this year, to 36. There was a record 52 murders in Manchester for all of last year.

Manchester chief crime investigator, Deputy Superintendent Beresford Brown, told the Observer that the police actually received a telephone call indicating that two men were lurking in the vicinity of James's home just before his death. But there was no time to alert the constable prior to his driving to his gate and exiting his car.

Brown urged those with helpful information to assist the police.

Statistics suggest that compared to much of the rest of Jamaica, crime in Manchester remains relatively low. But a number of high-profile incidents, including the murder in mid-November of supermarket owner Vincent Young and, prior to that, the kidnapping of the son of a prominent politician have triggered calls for increased police presence and activity across the parish. In October, a private group designating itself M Central Watch pledged to hunt down criminals in defence of the business community in the parish.

At a crime forum in Mandeville last month, national security minister Dwight Nelson and Assistant Commissioner Glenmore Hinds promised increased resources to assist the police.

Yesterday, Nelson said "the continued assault on members of the constabulary and the almost monotonous regularity of such is reason enough for the entire nation to take stock and come together in the fight against the twin-headed monster of crime and violence". He urged the police "not to cower in the face of such attacks but to be prepared to launch their response within the ambits of the law as they seek to bring the perpetrators to swift justice".

Said Nelson: "Far too many of the men of the Jamaica Constabulary Force are being killed by hoodlums who have no respect for the sanctity of life."

He warned that "despite the tough economic times, no money or effort will be spared to put the security forces in a state of readiness to respond to the terrorist acts that these monsters threaten to unleash on the society".

Acting Commissioner of Police Owen Ellington, meanwhile, said the "senseless and brutal murder" highlighted "the dangers police personnel face during the lawful execution of their duties and the brazen nature of the enemies we have to face daily, whether on or off duty".

In a release, Opposition Spokesman on National Security Peter Bunting, who is also member of parliament for Central Manchester, expressed outrage "at this dastardly and brazen attack" in a statement released to the media.

In an interview with journalists in Manchester, Bunting said Nelson needed "to come to the nation with a new crime plan" in light of what he said was a 20 per cent hike in major crimes.

"Clearly, whatever they have been doing so far has been ineffective and, notwithstanding repeated changes in personnel at both the ministerial and commissioner level, we have not seen any improvement in the statistics," said Bunting.

He suggested that the Government's hand had been weakened by delay in dealing with the request from the United States for the extradition of the West Kingston 'don' Christopher 'Dudus' Coke. "I can't help but feel that the equivocation on certain current issues has sent a signal that there is some ambivalence in the Government tackling the crime problem, particularly the organised crime problem ... they will have to show some action on the current extradition request. They will have to show that they have the political will to act against organised crime networks, particularly those affiliated with political parties," he said.

Sally Porteous, the Jamaica Labour Party councillor for the Mandeville Division and Bunting's opponent in the 2007 parliamentary election, felt James' murder highlighted the need for the death penalty to be implemented. "Why the culture of killing, we do not know. What we do know is that it is unacceptable and that it has to stop. I am again calling for the death penalty to be instituted right away. This country can no longer sit back and debate what should happen to those who would snuff out a life and continue to live. They must know that if you are prepared to take someone else's life that yours will be taken from you," said Porteous. Though death penalty for capital murderers remains on the law books, there have been no state-sanctioned executions in Jamaica since 1988.

Winston Lawson, president of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, which has spearheaded an anti-crime partnership with the police including the installation of closed circuit cameras in Mandeville, said the latest tragedy highlighted the need for the authorities to "act like now" in sending additional resources to better enable the Manchester police