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SENIOR superintendent of police Dwight Powell is urging people who travel through St Ann, especially at night, to be cautious as criminals posing as cops have been committing several robberies in the parish.Powell, speaking at the monthly meeting of the St Ann Municipal Corporation last Thursday, said the police have received reports that in recent time criminals moving around in a Toyota Axio motorcar have been wreaking havoc in the Runaway Bay and Discovery Bay areas."I want to advise the public that if they are stopped by anyone, that person should clearly identify themselves as a police officer before you proceed to comply with their directives. Otherwise you should proceed to the nearest police station to make a report... and we will take the necessary actions from there," said Powell.He noted that there are standards under which members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force operate while carrying out their duties in public spaces."Whenever we stop persons in the public, it is a police in uniform who gives the signal for a motorist to stop and if it is plain clothes operation there are also standards by which the police operate. The police will have to be clearly identifiable with marked police paraphernalia, so please try to be aware of how the police operate," Powell urged.He argued that the robberies by criminals posing as cops have led to an increase in the number of robberies in the parish so far this year."We have seen 11 robberies, a slight uptick to last year but we have put some measures in place to reduce these activities and they have been bearing some tremendous fruits," said Powell as he noted that the parish recorded five robberies in the same period last year."We want to ask the public to work with us to rid the parish of crime and violence and I just want to remind those who are bent on committing crime that they should be assured that the strict arm of justice will be reaching out to them," declared Powell.- Akera Davis