THE police in St Thomas say they stand ready to deal with any eventuality that may arise as the nation goes to the polls to elect a new Government today.

Superintendent of Police Beau Rigabie told the Jamaica Observer yesterday that his regular team will be boosted by a detail from Mobile Reserve and a detachment from the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), as the parish bolsters its law enforcement assets ahead of the general election.

He said he will have “385 police officers” at his disposal to carry out broad-based operational functions, including manning 257 polling stations in the bi-sect of St Thomas Western and St Thomas Eastern.

When quizzed if human and material resources available to him are sufficient for the day, Rigabie was cautious in his response.

“Enough is a word that has a lot of connotations, but what I will say is that we will make do with what we have because I don’t know if there is anything that is enough in a situation where there could be a lot of uncertainties,” he said.

The incumbent candidate for the eastern divide of the parish, the People’s National Party’s (PNP) Dr Fenton Ferguson faces off with his Opposition challenger Delano Seiveright of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) for the seat in the new Parliament, while councillor Marsha Francis of the PNP is seeking to unseat the JLP’s James Robertson on the western end.

Also in the race in St Thomas Western is Robert Cover of the Marcus Garvey People’s Progressive Party.

Rigabie, who was recently transferred from the Westmoreland Police Division, said the police have catalogued a number of potentially explosive polling areas and have devised strategies to safeguard and respond if that becomes necessary.

“Yes, we do have some hotspots that we will be focused on in both constituencies, east and west… in this instance I will speak to polling locations rather than the areas themselves… we can look at Lyssons Primary School, Airy Castle, Dalvey, the Port Morant area, we are looking at Seaforth, White Horses, Yallahs, Springfield, to name a few,” he noted.

“We will have operatives at all polling stations, some will have more than others based on the problematic nature of a zone. We will have patrols deployed throughout both constituencies, patrols enough to dominate the particular space in question, we will have standby components, which will respond to any eventualities which may be beyond the realms of the local patrols,” Rigabie continued.

The parish commander said he has impressed upon his charges the importance of maintaining a professional posture even in the most testy situations.

“I have been communicating with my team that professionalism is the order of the day because from time to time people tend to purposefully misconstrue professional misconduct, and to say that we are partisan when it suits them, so I have asked them to follow through on their professional conduct which they will demonstrate all through tomorrow (today),” Rigabie told the Observer by telephone from his headquarters in the parish capital.

He reminded that the game of politics comes with varied tricks as supporters will go to great lengths to unfairly advance the cause of their respective parties, and as a counter-action part of the security plan on the ground is to create a mix of experienced and inexperienced law enforcement officers.

“It’s really a matter of sensitisation and having an appreciation of what is likely to happen… we have some members who have never experienced an election as a police officer, and we also have experienced ones, so we try to have balanced mix.

“There are a lot of tricks that have been highlighted and we share the information with each other and everybody has an appreciation of what to do in the event that something happens. Of course some situations may be new, so communication will determine what goes on from there,” Rigabie shared.

As part of its election day strategy and in keeping with the law, his team will be aiming to keep the polling spaces free from loitering, or any other breach of the “sterile” zone.

“It is unlawful (loitering) up to 100 metres from the polling station, anything beyond that there should be no assembly, and the representation of the Public Order Act speaks to all of that, so we will be on our guard with regards to upholding law and order,” Rigabie vowed.

“It is our duty to ensure that all voters wishing to exercise their franchise to come out vote and go back home safely, and we are pledging that we will ensure that this happens,” he stated.