‘We’re tired of it’

A 29th birthday celebration in Trench Town turned into a night of fear and trauma on Wednesday after police officers descended on a family gathering, detained the celebrant, and allegedly discharged high-powered weapons.

Residents were left angered, shaken, and demanding answers.

The incident unfolded along West Road in Federal Gardens, where relatives and friends had gathered in a yard to mark what should have been a joyful milestone.

Instead, the night ended in chaos.

Residents say the celebration was in full swing – music playing, food being prepared, and drinks flowing – when a team of cops entered the community and abruptly brought the festivities to a halt.

“They just come in and mash up everything, push over the table with liquor,” one resident recalled.

Accounts from several persons indicate that tensions quickly escalated.

Some residents alleged that the cops became physical, pushing individuals and deploying pepper spray as they moved through the gathering.

Amid the confusion, the 29-year-old birthday celebrant was reportedly pulled from the yard and taken into a nearby lane, where, according to his father, he was aggressively questioned about a firearm.

“My son don’t have no gun,” the father said, maintaining that his son has been repeatedly targeted by police, detained, and released without charge on several occasions.

The situation intensified when loud explosions rang out.

Residents later discovered 5.56 spent casings scattered across the yard and along the roadway. They believe the shots were fired from police rifles, insisting that there was no exchange of gunfire.

“There was no shoot-out. Nobody nuh get shot. Dem just gone wid the youth,” one man said. “Just shots firing in the air. A so police behave when dem come a ghetto, not uptown.”

In one section of the community, more than a dozen casings were observed clustered together. Residents later collected them, preserving them as evidence.

For one young child, the son of the man detained, the experience was especially traumatic.

The seven-year-old was reportedly left terrified after witnessing his father being whisked away by police and hearing the loud explosions.

“He was frightened bad,” a relative shared.

Between 11 p.m. and 11:26 p.m., the detained man made a series of urgent calls to his father.

During one of those calls, a tense exchange was recorded involving the father and a man who identified himself as a police officer.

“VOICE #1: Where me fi meet you?

Father: “Meet who … weh yuh want?”

VOICE #1: “Dem nuh tell you weh yuh fi do?”

Father: “Come a West Road ya so! Come pon West Road!”

VOICE #1: “You caa ... mi nuh want you deh deh so weh di camera deh?”

Father: “Which camera? A who this? A who a talk bout camera?

VOICE #1: “A me a talk to you, man”

Father: “Oh weh di camera for? Wah kinda camera thing dem a talk bout?

Father: “Mek mi talk to the police weh have yuh, nuh!”

Father: “Yo!”

VOICE #1: “Yea. Weh yuh say?”

Father: “Mek me talk to the police.”

VOICE #2: “Yo! Weh ya seh? Weh ya seh?”

Father: “A di police this?”

VOICE #2: “Yea”

Father: “Weh ya say, police?”

VOICE #2: “A who this?”

Father: “Him father”

VOICE #2: “Yea, so mi a say which part, weh you a go meet we? Which part we a go meet up?”

Father: “Weh you want mi meet yuh?”

VOICE #2: “Weh you feel a the best place?”

Father: “Weh mi fi meet yuh for? Weh mi fi meet yuh wid?”

The conversation, marked by repeated references to meeting locations and “camera” has fuelled the father’s belief that he was being asked to meet officers privately and bring something.That something he interpreted as a possible demand for money in exchange for his son’s release.

“I wasn’t going to meet them nowhere,” he said firmly.

Other family members went to the Denham Town Police Station, expecting the young man to be there.

Instead, they waited for hours without any clear information. He did arrive with the police party he had left the community with.

It was only after the father refused to meet that the 29-year-old was eventually taken to the station just before midnight.

The police station is five minutes away from the community.

Family members allege that he was physically assaulted while in custody.

He was later released without charge at approximately 3 a.m. Thursday morning, bringing a distressing end to his birthday.

Back at the yard, the remnants of the celebration stood untouched.

Pots of curried chicken, jerk chicken, pork, rice and peas, and white rice remained where they had been prepared, never served.

“Nobody even get fi eat. The community alright. Nothing nah gwan fi dem a behave so. Dem a rough up the young and old,” a relative said.

Repeated attempts by The Gleaner to get comments from Acting Senior Superintendent Brian Henry, head of the Kingston Western Police Division, proved futile.

The casings collected by residents were handed over to the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), which has since launched a probe. Investigators visited the area Thursday morning and have started collecting statements from residents.

INDECOM indicated that it was initially unaware of the incident but took action after receiving information from sources outside of the police.

Under established protocol, any discharge of a firearm by law enforcement must be reported to the agency immediately.

Residents say they are fearful, uncertain of when police may return, and concerned about what they describe as excessive force.

While acknowledging the challenges of policing volatile inner-city communities, some residents argue that officers are trained to manage such situations without resorting to intimidation or unnecessary aggression.

“Is not everybody in the ghetto are hooligans,” the resident said.

“We tired of it. This is agonising,” the father told The Gleaner. “This can’t continue. It come in like they are taking set on my family.”

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com