‘We want our boys to look like students’ - Western Kingston sergeant working to change image

Determined to see positive changes in the attitude of the nation's youth, a senior cop is urging parents and caregivers to pay keen attention to the image of their boys.

Sergeant Kidan McCoy, along with his team, say they have started an initiative to correct the 'gangster-type' image in schools located in especially the Western Kingston Police Division.

"It just can't make sense, you can't have a child going to school and him pants under him bottom and one his front button undone and their hair is not groomed," McCoy remarked.

"When I conducted a search of one of the students I realised the uniform his parents bought for him to wear to school, him take it off and put it in his bag then put on his tight pants. Some of them are literally travelling with two khaki pants," he revealed.

"As parents we need to search their bags before they leave home and ensure that their hair is properly groomed."

McCoy, who is attached to the Community Safety and Security Branch of the Kingston West Police Division, says they frequently have counselling sessions with the "troubled youths".

A number of them, he says, have been expelled from other institutions and are creating havoc in the ones they are currently attending.

"I told them that all they are doing is criminalising themselves and whilst it is not good to stereotype, we know that in Jamaican society once the police sees a man dressed in a particular way it is a cause for concern," he shared.

"You as a motorist operating out there, so a man comes with him pants down him waist, you not gonna see him as an average man. Image is everything and you just have to mind how you carry yourselves around. I just want the youth them to know that," McCoy noted.

"Most, if not all of them are boys that have been kicked out of other schools and the ministry places them in other schools. When the principal or dean of discipline calls us these are the same boys who are creating the problems, including extortion, bullying, sexual offences, etc. These are the very same persons who are doing these things; the ones who portray themselves as gangsters, this is how they dress to school," he said.

However, McCoy stated that a lot of youths are suffering from trauma, adding that they take out their frustration on other students, teachers and the entire school body.

"One of the kids I have interviewed, his cousin was recently killed by the police in a fatal shooting and his father was killed by gunmen. His background tells you that he is already exposed to certain things and it lingers in his thoughts so he tends to portray a certain type of attitude," McCoy explained.

"During the interview he made it clear that he didn't like police, but when I was through he was a different kid. Four of them later went with me to the barber to get their trim. Now everybody in the school want their hair trimmed."

The police officer said he and his team will be having more parent seminars in order to sensitise caregivers.

"I want the parents to know the image their boys are portraying they cannot take that into society. They cannot even attend a job interview, lessons policing like that," he said.

"We get calls to these schools every day and currently we have 20 students reporting to us from just one school. These are children who are gambling, bullying and others. One of them has been charged because he stole at least 20 laptops from the school. He was kicked from that institution but he is back in another one creating problems, so the problem isn't fixed by transferring them," the police officer said.