Sheena Gayle, Freelance Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

The cells holding juveniles at the Montego Freeport Police Station in St James are overcrowded and parents are being blamed.

According to Sydney Grant, the western regional director for the Child Development Agency (CDA), the cells at the lock-up are overcrowded, as up to 50 per cent of the parents have failed to come forward to bail their children who were charged with criminal offences.

"A number of juveniles are on serious charges at the Freeport lock-up and I am not surprised that their cells (are) overcrowded, as about 40 to 50 per cent are not released because sometimes parents do not want to take on the responsibility to bail them," Grant said.

Grant told The Sunday Gleaner, that if no bail is posted for the youngsters, they are then transferred to another remand centre until their matter is mentioned in court.

Superintendent Steve McGregor, head of the St James Police Division, said that recently, 15 juveniles were transferred to a juvenile centre in Kingston in an effort to ease the overcrowding in the juvenile cells at the Freeport lock-up.

Major concern

"We are finding that more juveniles in western Jamaica are being incarcerated and this continues to be a major concern for us. Their age group ranges from 10-17 years of age," said McGregor.

As a long-term solution to the problem, he urged parents to "pay special attention to the boys and foster proper parenting skills in order to deal with this issue".

Gun-related offences and robberies are the most prominent charges against these juveniles, followed by petty theft and gang violence, indicated Superintendent McGregor.

While the CDA is responsible for the protection of children, Grant said that once a child is over 12 years old and has committed a criminal offence, the agency was not responsible, and the child would be referred to the Probation Department of the Ministry of Justice.

"In the event that a child is under 12 and he or she has committed an offence, then CDA would complete a social-inquiry report, take the child to court, make recommendations and do continuous assessments," he explained.