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Police and Politicians Partner For Peace In Conch Shell
posted (January 25, 2017)

The Conch Shell Bay area and the nearby Lindo’s Alley Street has been a hotbed of violence since the start of 2017. Two men have been killed and a 19 year old is in the intensive care unit after being shot two nights ago.  So, how are police going to bring peace and safety to this very small area?  Well, today Southside Police went on a meet and greet in this embattled community.  But they didn’t go alone, for the first time that we’ve witnessed, the police teamed up with the ranking politician in the area – that’s representative Tracey Taeger-Panton.  Here’s what she told us about putting an end to the violence:…

Hon. Tracy Taegar-Panton - Albert Area. Rep
"Residence in this area particular, Lindo's alley and also in the Conch shell bay area very concerned with the escalation of gun violence and so we felt that it was important to do an outreach to the community to give them our reassurance that we're doing everything we possibly can in terms of dealing with the crime itself and also looking for alternative ways in which we can continue to support our community to try and stem some of what has happened. Recently there has been a spike in the activity and its concerning for all us, far too many of our young men are dying and as a community we have to come together and do what we can."

"Certainly from my own personal observation the police is doing everything that they possibly can and what I've heard from the homes that we have visited is that they feel a greater sense of safety and security. They see the police, patrols are far more frequent and that gives them some level of comfort and reassurance. I can assure you that we're doing everything and the police is doing everything that they can to try and bring some sense of calm and to do some intervention so that we can try and get to the bottom of the problem and hopefully be able to get things back to normal."

Jules Vasquez
"It seems fairly elementary to secure such a small area. Why have the government and the police been unable to secure these citizens?"

Hon. Tracy Taegar-Panton
"It is a small area that's why it's so concerning that is why we are taking the time to visit each home because everybody knows everybody in this area, I would go as far as to say that everybody is family and so this kind of spike in the gun activity is very disconcerting. We also have to have to have people who are willing to come forward in terms of sharing information with the police so that we can get to the bottom of it. You hear a lot in the community in terms of your own informal intelligence gathering but you can't act on that unfortunately."

Jules Vasquez
"As far as you understand it what is at the root of this violence, this particular spike?"

Hon. Tracy Taegar-Panton
"It's hard to say Jules, I will narrow it down to being a turf war. I am sure that to some degree there is some drug activity involved, I would suggest that, that's what I've heard."

Jules Vasquez
"Is it for the controlling of who sells marijuana; in who controls the sale of marijuana in this area?"

Hon. Tracy Taegar-Panton
"I don't know that level of detail but I would say it appears to me from the information that I have that drugs are involved in this current situation. Certainly access to job opportunity is an issue for our young men and that's something we take on very seriously and we're trying to find ways in which we can work with contractors and other architects to see how we can get our young men involved particularly in the construction industry, a lot of them seem to have an interest."

As you might have noticed, Assistant Commissioner Chester Williams was right there beside Taegar Panton – but you’re not hearing a word from him on the news tonight because the gag order preventing all police officers from talking to the media remains strictly in effect.  Senior police officers can only speak with permission from the always-unavailable Commissioner of Police – who we’ve been trying to reach unsuccessfully for days.

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