Senior cop urges farmers to report praedial larceny

Deputy Superintendent of Police Paul Bernard said that incidents of praedial larceny are under- reported in St Catherine.

"I can safely say that we are not on top of praedial larceny. The facts are that persons are not reporting the crime as they ought to, some are fearful, and others lose hope, or so it seems," Bernard told THE STAR last week, shortly after appearing at the monthly meeting of the St Catherine Municipal Corporation last Thursday.

Praedial larceny has been a major problem for farmers islandwide. Agriculture Minister Floyd Green has described it as "a scourge in our society". During his contribution to the Sectoral Debate in May, Green said that his ministry has been working closely with the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to pursue several strategies also aimed at reducing praedial larceny. Seven praedial larceny units have been established across seven police divisions, namely Trelawny, St Catherine North, St Catherine South, Clarendon, St Mary, St Elizabeth, and St Thomas to help put an end to farm theft.

Can't lose hope

On Thursday, Bernard said that St Catherine has a team of police personnel with resource to respond to acts of praedial larceny.

"There is a unit led by an inspector of police and six others, which is dedicated to deal with it. The team is on call 24 hours a day, moreover, it is comprised of members who are intimately involve in farming, therefore, the farmers can't lose hope," Bernard said, while urging persons who are the victims of farm theft to "just report the matter".

"The team carries out operations in the market districts, it stops and checks vehicles with market and farming produce, but more information from the sometimes fearful farmers are required. This help the police to fight against this cruel practice," Bernard said.

Lawmakers recently made amendments to the anti-gang legislation to provide harsher penalties for gangsters who prey on farmers. The amendments include making larceny of cattle and killing animals, with the intent to steal, serious offences for which people who are part of criminal organisations can now be charged. Penalties can go up to 20 years for the first conviction on indictment.

Despite the legislative and law-enforcement support, some farmers have indicated that they are fearful of praedial thieves, as they are sometimes armed with firearms.