The debate on the Zones of Special Operations (ZOSOs) has been healthy.
Minister of Defence Wayne Sturge has explained that these zones are designed to help curb the rise in crime that often follows the end of a State of Emergency.
He clarified that the measures will not cover entire constituencies but will instead focus on specific, smaller areas.
“So you’ll have pockets in Diego Martin West, you’ll have perhaps Richplain, Covigne, and these places. So the zones would basically target smaller areas, and because it is targeted, the manpower needed, you don’t need the entire army or the entire Police Service, you need a sufficient amount to establish a cordon, and a cordon would in essence prevent persons from leaving, and not persons who are everyday Johns, law-abiding citizens.”
The Minister explained that the ordinary man on the street will not be targeted, as police information on suspects is up-to-date.
“It is meant to prevent the criminal element from leaving, and that’s one of the safeguards of the Bill. I see a lot of misinformation being peddled on social media, scare tactics to make people feel that if you live in the zone that somehow your rights are deprived of and unlimited. That’s not the case because the arrest, for instance, the arrest, it’s not arbitrary, it’s based on reasonable suspicion and reasonable suspicion that you are engaged in gang activity, shootings, robberies, extortion, murders, things like that.”
He says the database makes it easier to zone in on those who may be up to no good.
“The persons we are targeting, we already have data on them. The data is gleaned from a database that the police service has called the crime and problem analysis database. So there’s a database in the Crime and Problem Analysis Unit, and that database would basically tell us who in the communities are the shooters, who keep guns and so on, and once you are in a zone and we establish a cordon according in a part of the zone and perhaps a curfew if need be, then we go into that zone, and we’ll be able to flush out the criminal elements.”
With regard to the closure of the State of Emergency, Minister Sturge says the Government is prepared for any eventuality as they continue to live up to the mandate of keeping the public safe.