JAMAICAN POLICE ISLAND-WIDE GET TOUGH ON STREET DANCES AND OTHER EVENTS!

The police have developed tough new measures to deal with the staging of street dances and parties across the island amid mounting complaints about widespread breaches of the Noise Abatement Act.

Among the measures which were announced by Police Commissioner Owen Ellington is the refusal of permits to venues with a history of violence and to events that feature entertainers with a bad reputation and influence.

As part of the measures, Ellington has also instructed his senior officers not to grant permits for events where the music will be a nuisance to one household and where the event is likely to impede the normal use of the road.

Owen Ellington

To ensure compliance, he says divisional officers will be accountable to their area officers who will answer to him for any deviation from these measures.

The commissioner says these measures come amid reports that street dances are being held without approval from the police and are going well beyond the midnight and 2 a.m. cut off times for weekdays and weekends respectively.

He says this nuisance is no longer confined to weekends or to the Corporate Area as dances are being held every day across the entire island.