MANCHESTER, Jamaica — Head of the Manchester Police, Deputy Superintendent Odean Dennis has issued a stern warning to bar operators to stop selling alcoholic beverages to children.

The senior cop on Monday evening during a community meeting in Greenvale pointed to reports of students in school uniform being sold alcoholic beverages at bars in Manchester.

“On too many occasions in recent times. We are getting complaints that children [including those] in uniform are being served alcoholic beverages in your bars…I am going to be in discussion with some of the clerks of the courts for this parish to formulate a plan to treat with that issue, because I want to know if as a police officer, it is covered under the law to do what I am thinking of doing in relation to these persons,” he said while suggesting harsh penalties.

“Whenever we have empirical evidence to prove that a bar operator was serving alcoholic beverages to any student, what we are going to do is, we are going to create a naughty list and those bar owners who are found to have breached in that sort of way,” he said.

The cop added, “What we are going to do is to ensure that if they have a spirit licence, we consider revoking it, and if they don’t, we consider not granting them any spirit licence or recommending that they are not granted any spirit licence at least for one year.”

He reiterated his appeal to the residents to ensure children are protected.

“I want all of the bar operators within the Greenvale space to get on board and ensure that we are not selling any alcoholic beverages to our children. They are our future, and we need to protect them,” he added.

He also commended residents of Greenvale for maintaining peace in the once troubled community.

“Greenvale when I was last here [on July 8] was giving some indications that there were going to be problems. There were some shootings and [a murder]…We had to institute a curfew in the community, but [residents] met and there were some assurances given by the community, and I am happy to report that since [then] there has been no significant incidents in Greenvale,” he said, evoking applause from his audience.

READ: Police to lift Greenvale curfew if area remains crime-free

—  Kasey Williams