ComPol Has Safety Advice during the Holidays

Chester Williams

While the Christmas season is usually joyous, it can result in misfortune for people who become vulnerable to thieves.  Commissioner of Police Chester Williams says there will be more patrols to try to control the level of criminal activity that happens at this time of year. But aside from that, there are some do’s and don’ts guidelines to follow.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“More celebrations do (accompany) more drinking. It’s just so unfortunate that some people drink and tend to lose control of who they truly are and become another person. That then leads to other issues, so yes, as a department we are doing what we can through our anti-crime effort to put patrols within the different areas, particularly the business areas because again, there’ll be a number of persons who will be shopping during this time and criminals will take advantage of an opportunity of these people shopping and may want to rob them as the case may be. So, we have presence in the commercial areas, while not neglecting the gang-ridden areas because we still do not want to be looking after one area and then things spiral out of control in the other area. So, we want to (advise) the public that – always ensure that you are aware of your surroundings. Try not to be carrying large (sums of) cash on you. Do not be taking out large (sums of) cash in public. Do not go to the ATM and walk out with money in your hand. If you park your vehicle at night time, park in areas where there is light. Always keep your keys in your hands, or your remote, so that when you get to your vehicle you just press the remote and you open the door and go in, do not wait til you reach your vehicle then search your bag for the keys, try to have it available beforehand and when you do leave your home, try to leave something on to give some semblance of light inside the house. That will deter persons who may want to burglarize your home. And I think if we do these things then we should be on the right footing. As it relates to our highways, yes, again, drinking and driving is a concern. We saw over the past two months an increase in fatalities on our highways. We have done some operations and put things in place and we have seen that minimized. We need to do more to ensure that the incidents on our highways continue to reduce. When we lose a life, whether by gun violence on the highway or by other means, it is a significant loss to a family.”