A police officer checks the documents of this motorcyclist who was stopped on Knutsford Boulevard after the cop noticed that the front licence plate was incorrectly positioned on the motor bike. A number of motorists were stopped and checked as police started their zero-tolerance initiative yesterday. (Photo: Lionel Rookwood)

THE police yesterday seized an illegal firearm and arrested a man for its possession, while a number of people were charged with possession of drugs and offensive weapons, road traffic violations and other non-custodial crimes, as the constabulary started its zero-tolerance initiative in the Corporate Area.

Police also reported that a number of vehicles with improper registration, bicycles, illegal drugs, knives and cutlasses were seized.

In New Kingston, police said they issued 42 traffic tickets, seized seven motorcycles, one motor car, and arrested five people for breaches of the Dangerous Drugs and Offensive Weapons Acts.

The increased police presence on the streets of the Corporate Area was immediately welcomed by some members of the public.

"That we want see long time; more police to keep the peace," one newspaper vendor said as an officer checked a motorcyclist along Knutsford Boulevard in New Kingston yesterday morning.

Another woman, who was also stopped in the area, was pleased with the attitude of the policeman who dealt with her.
"Even though I was delayed they were very professional and it's better them keep it up because this crime is too much now," the woman told the Observer.

However, despite the positive feedback, the deputy commissioner in charge of crime, Mark Shields, was not willing to pat the police on the back just yet.

"There is still a flagrant disregard for the law. It is very visible. Motorcyclists without helmets and motorists without seat belts, whether it's minor or major; we have to relentlessly reduce crime," Shields said.

Police Commissioner Hardley Lewin, who two weeks ago warned that his men would be clamping down on minor offences, yesterday posted cops at various points across the Corporate Area at the start of the initiative to help bring order to the society.

The weapon taken off the streets yesterday - a .38 revolver - was seized when officers from the St Andrew Central Division swooped down on a construction site at Liguanea Avenue, and after a thorough search found the revolver in the waist of a man.

A male motorist was also arrested and charged with possession of marijuana after he stopped at the feet of a police inspector on Knutsford Boulevard with a lit 'spliff' in his mouth.

Early yesterday morning the police also targeted illegal route taxis parked at North Odeon Avenue and Central Plaza.

Officers were also seen in the vicinity of the Calvary Cemetery on Lyndhurst Road, North Parade in downtown Kingston and cops were also seen patrolling the Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre.

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