Titchfield High school of Portland triumphed over St Mary High in the finals of the Area 2 police high school debate competition on Tuesday, February 10 at the Sandals Grande Riviera, Ocho Rios, St Ann.The debate competition began in January 2015 with the three schools that won their respective parish’s police debate competition; that is St Hilda’s of St. Ann, St Mary High of St. Mary and Titchfield high of Portland.The Area 2 police debate competition was staged under the theme, “Enhancing collaboration through meaningful discussion.”The moot for the finals was: be it resolved that “Jamaica’s high crime rate is a direct result of the island’s social and moral decay rather than a lack of effective policing”Titchfield High opposed the moot and gained 1381 points to beat St. Mary High, the proposer 1336, by 45 points. Titchfield high’s first speaker Christina Williams was adjudicated the top speaker of the match. St. Mary High’s Abigail Barrett emerged best speaker of the debate competition. Ricardo Allen and Dwanique Passley rounded off Titchfield’s team while Janelle Haye and Terrecia McPherson completed St. Mary’s team.The judges commended both teams for significant improvements and great handling of the moot. The judges commended Titchfield high for their innovative approach, especially in their interpretation of “policing”. Titchfield made the argument that “policing” did not mean simply the formal police force and they supported that position throughout, arguing that the failure of society, to include parents and community was a big factor in crime.The judges also commended Abigail Barrett of St Mary High for her strong, thinking rebuttal but said indicated the team should have challenged the “policing” concept put forward by Titchfield.The judges were: James Walsh, retired principal of Brown’s Town Community College; Shanna Orr, civilian executive at Area 2 police; Carol Pinnock, lecturer at CASE; Desmond Sinclair of the SDC and chief judge Franklin McKnight.
