Jonique Gaynor, Staff Reporter

The Half-Way Tree police have stepped up their patrols in order to ensure that criminals and vagrants have no chance of defiling the new Transportation Centre.

Unlike other public spaces in the area, such as the Mandela Park, which have become a haven for idlers and drug addicts and dealers, the police are determined to keep the centre as it should be.

Deputy Superintendent McArthur Sutherland, head of crime for the St Andrew Central Division, said the police were working in conjunction with the private security company that monitors the grounds.

He told THE STAR: "We have a presence there daily and we are always in the area. We have both an overt and covert presence and it has been working." DSP Sutherland also explained that even though recent rumblings suggest that several incidents of violence have occurred at the centre, this is not reflected in the statistics. He said: "Maybe it's a case of underreporting, but that is not reflected in our system. There is no evidence to support reports of an upsurge in violence."

The zero-tolerance approach that the police have adopted in dealing with minor offences in Half-Way Tree has also helped to maintain order at the centre. DSP Sutherland explained: "We are dealing with all minor offences with a zero-tolerance approach. Things like pos-session of ganja and offensive weapon. If someone with weed is allowed to stay there, he is the same one that will grab a phone or a chain. The one with the knife may use it later to rob someone."

He said the aim of this approach was to "create fear of being found with a knife or weed in Half-Way Tree" and to eventually reduce the number of robberies and attacks.

In anticipation of the upcoming Boys and Girls Athletic Champ-ionships and the tension that usually accompanies it, DSP Sutherland said plans were already in place to prevent the clashes that have almost become commonplace.

He said: "The Transport Centre is a central spot for them to meet and we know the history of the rivalry, so we anticipate the usual. Last year, there was a student who hid a knife in his tie, so we are planning for them."