Nagra Plunkett, Staff Reporter
GARDNER
WESTERN BUREAU:
ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER of Police, Keith 'Trinity' Gardner, the officer in charge of the Area One Police Division, has ordered an immediate audit of security companies in the parishes of Trelawny, St. James, Hanover and Westmoreland.
The audit will determine how the companies keep and store firearms. It comes in the wake of the fallout from Sunday night's armed robbery at the Crime Prevention Security firm in Montego Bay during which armed thugs stole eight firearms, an undetermined quantity of ammunition and $1.2 million.
A male employee of the firm has since been taken into custody by the St. James police in connection with the robbery.
"I gave instructions to my divisional officers on the eve of the incident to carry out an audit of the security companies and the number of them operating in the parishes, especially in St. James," ACP Gardner said.
"We don't want a repeat what happened so we will be looking at the physical structure in terms of buildings and the persons who secure them."
STANDARDS
The senior officer stated that there were certain standards set out in the Firearms Act and accompanying regulations as well as by the Private Security Regulations Authority that security companies must adhere to.
"I want to know whether or not sufficient measures are in place to ensure that weapons are safe," the ACP concluded.
Meanwhile, the police recovered more than $300,000 of the stolen cash from the male employee's home in Lilliput, St. James, early yesterday morning.
Superintendent Warren Clarke, commanding officer for St. James, confirmed that the man had been detained and that the police had recovered the cash.
However, the identity of the 35-year-old security guard is being withheld pending further investigations into the matter.
"Weapons have been seized from the security company and we continue to investigate the matter," Supt. Clarke said.
Police said that about 7:30 p.m. Sunday, three armed men went to Mystic Plaza on Humber Avenue in Montego Bay, where the Crime Prevention Security firm is located. They reportedly held a female security guard and a groundsman at gunpoint.
It was further reported that the gunmen went to the company's main office where they kicked open a door and stole six revolvers, two shotguns, several rounds of ammunition and the cash before making their escape in a waiting motor car. Neither the guns nor the ammunition has been recovered.
