St. Andrew, Jamaica (McN) – Women from Maxfield Avenue in Kingston organized a demonstration on Thursday, blocking streets and protesting. They were demanding that a police sergeant from the Hunts Bay Police Station, in Kingston 11 be removed.
On Thursday February 9, women from the Maxfield Avenue community organized and gathered with placards, demanding investigations into a an alleged “Machete Carrying Police Sergeant,” who that say have been causing havoc in their community.
Female Demonstrators of Maxfield Avenue say, it’s getting bad in the community, they need justice in the community – referring to their allegations of a police sergeant who they say terrorize the residents at nights.
The female residents took to the street, blocking sections of the road near the Whitfield Road All-Age School, with car tires. They allege that their demonstration is triggered by a recent action of a police sergeant, and his colleagues from the Hunts Bay station. The women say the officers went to the community last Tuesday night and allegedly punched a female in her abdomen over and over, and pepper-sprayed her in the eye for using her cell phone to recording them during an incident in the community – where they say police allegedly used cutlass to beat two male residents. The woman’s phone they say was also confiscated by the same alleged “cutlass police.”
The demonstrators pointed out, this police only visits the community at night. One woman reported the sergeant and his team came to her house early in the morning two weeks ago, kicked in her door and assaulted one of her male relatives with a cutlass, she says the office then allegedly brandished his gun in front of her baby.
Police cleared the roadblocks, but the women say if they don’t get any justice, they will block it again.
A demonstrator recalled, hearing footsteps one morning about 3:00 am, in her yard, and was terrified thinking it was gunmen intruding – she found police in her yard.
The residents explained, while they have no problem with police patrolling the community, this police officer, they say must go – as they see him as a terrorist targeting the community, who, they claim is usually armed with multiple guns and a machete when he visits their community.
They are calling on the police sergeant’s superior to step in with an investigation into their unified concern.
Cover image is not of the Maxfield Avenue demonstration
