POLICE Commissioner Lucius Thomas has welcomed the new facility that allows citizens to send a text to the police’s 119 emergency number, and has asked Jamaicans to use the service to help in the fight against crime.

“There is no excuse for you not to call in information and help us to operate effectively in a professional way with the intelligence that is available to us.

So I implore every citizen to make certain that you text the messages to us, let us analyse them and lead with the intelligence available from that,

” the commissioner said at a press conference at his office Wednesday where cellular company Digicel handed over the new telecoms facility to the constabulary.

The new texting system, he said, would allow for some degree of anonymity.

“We speak of people having such confidence in the information that they pass on; sending text messages will guarantee that safety…,” said the police chief.

He said, too, that he envisaged no problems in terms of persons not being able to get a response from the control centre when sending messages.

In the meantime, Thomas expressed pleasure with the partnership while congratulating Digicel on its performance as a corporate citizen. Modernisation of the JCF, he said, must begin with technology, adding that the new system donated by Digicel would further enhance the capacity of the force’s intelligence.

Meanwhile, Thomas announced that there were plans to restructure the police 119 facility, and that contracts have also been signed to undertake development of the constabulary’s telecommunications network.

Deputy Commissioner Charles Scarlett, the man in charge of intelligence, said the new facility should provide the JCF with an opportunity to get information in real time.

“We will examine and analyse it (text message) and respond appropriately. It will help us in our investigative work from a strategic and practical standpoint,” said Scarlett.

Scarlett later told the Observer that diligence would be exercised in determining the validity of text messages sent. “We will look at the message and see what’s relevant and useful to a police operation.,” he said.

Added Scarlett: “We will certainly act on the urgency of each bit of information, an assessment is made in respect of each bit of information and upon that basis we determine the urgency with which we will act.”

Digicel’s marketing communications manager Wayne Miller said the company’s decision to participate in the venture signalled its unwillingness to “pay lip service to the crime problem”.

“If we are to reduce our current level of crime, our police force needs to have access to timely information. The 119 texting service will do just that,” added Miller.dunkleya@jamaicaobserver.com