Facing an ever-increasing crime rate, the Manchester police has come under heavy pressure from residents to take concrete steps to contain what one resident terms "the monster".

With 32 murders in the parish so far this year, Superintendent Howard Francis, the officer in charge of the Manchester police, said, as far as he was concerned, that was 32 murders too many and it was time for residents to play a more significant role in the fight against crime.

The superintendent, who was speaking at a public forum in Mandeville, put on by the Manchester Parish Council on Monday, said there were 46 murders for the same period last year.

He called on residents to assist the police by giving information on illicit activities, as most crimes could be prevented or solved if citizens who noticed unusual or suspicious activity in their communities would inform the police in a timely manner.

Noting that some persons do not trust the police, Superintendent Francis implored residents to give information to those they trust, even if that officer is stationed outside the parish.

Admitting that some crimes have escalated, he said robberies and break-ins are posing the greatest challenges to lawmen at this time.

Dissatisfied

Attributing the escalation in those crimes, in part, to the closure of bauxite companies, Superintendent Francis was very dissatisfied with the business community's crime fighting input. He lamented that in recent weeks, the parish's police high command scheduled a meeting with the business operators in the parish, at the Golf View Hotel and only three turned up, forcing the meeting to be re-scheduled.

An obviously annoyed Supt Francis told The Gleaner, that not even one business person turned up for the second meeting although, invitations were hand delivered in most instances.

The meeting, he said, was geared at hearing from business operators, which number in the thousands, what new strategies they would like to see put in place and to hear their experiences, so the police could better work with them to protect their businesses and customers.