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'LET HARRY STAY'

RESIDENTS OF WEST Kingston on Monday did something which many would consider highly unlikely given their history with the police.

They blocked sections of Spanish Town Road as well as parts of Hannah Town and Rose Town to protest the transfer of Superintendent Harry Daley.

Superintendent Daley's transfer from the West Kingston Police Division to Inspection Branch was announced last week. He was among a group of high ranking police officers who were being transferred.

It is this removal that has angered the residents. While this is not the first time that residents in a particular division have protested the removal of a particular officer, it is the first time West Kingston residents have demonstrated against the transfer of an officer.

"If him go weh war start. If him go weh Monday night war a go start Tuesday night. If war start we no see no Minister a come roun' here, a Harry 'Bungles' we see a come roun here come talk to we one one," said Alicia Watson, a resident of Hannah Town. She was one of several in the area who bore placards in support of Superintendent Daley.

But the residents' protest in support of Harry Daley comes after a history of clashes between the police and the various communities in the past.

In July 2001, the police battled gunmen from the Tivoli Gardens area in West Kingston. At the end of the three day stand off, 27 persons lay dead on the streets.

Later that year, gunmen reportedly threw dynamite on top of the station blowing off sections of the roof. The bombing of the police station was a part of a series of attacks on the station over the period of a week.

These incidents were two of many dating back at least 10 years.

"Harry Daley keep the peace in a di community. We nuh want no repeat of July 7. We don't want nobody else but him. A cause a him why Passa Passa can keep an' people from all bout come an' park dem car an' nobody nuh go in deh," said a woman who gave her name as Petal from Denham Town as she displayed her placard to support what she told THE STAR.

Several young men who were seen when THE STAR went into Rema said that Superintendent Daley had changed how policing was done in the Division.

"Him nuh allow police fi brutalise the community. From him come here war hardly gwaan. Him bring peace to the community. We can go all over di place, one time dem ting deh couldn't happen," he said as THE STAR team was moving on to Hannah Town.

For their part, the police officers at Denham Town refused to comment on the demonstration. However, they said they were keeping an eye on the situation.

Efforts to reach Superintendent Daley were unsuccessful as he was said to be out of office when THE STAR visited.