426 / 494
425
Surveillance Equipment Found
13.18.
Even though Coke was not found within Tivoli Gardens or, indeed,
the entire area of operation on 24 May, the searches were not fruitless. As we
noted in Chapter 5, an electronic surveillance system that monitored the entry
points to Tivoli Gardens was found at one of the houses in Java (15A Dee Cee
Avenue) which was believed to be owned by Coke. A man monitoring the
system was detained and handed over to the JCF.
Possible Escape Routes
13.19.
Planning for the operation envisaged controlling the boundaries of
the area of operation and entry and exit points to the Tivoli community. The
Southern, Western and Northern boundaries were to be blocked by units of 1JR.
On 23 May JDF units were positioned to the South of Tivoli Gardens. According
to Lt. Col. Jaimie Ogilvie, soldiers from these units were further deployed on the
morning of 24 May to prevent “the exfiltration of gunmen”. A similar unit was
stationed in the May Pen Cemetery to block possible escape to the West. And
there were advance placements to the North.
13.20.
As early as Friday, 21 May, a platoon of soldiers was pre-deployed
to MSOC and an observation post was established. Similarly, another platoon
was assigned to establish vehicle check points along Maxfield Avenue to the
North West of Tivoli Gardens. It was hoped to narrow the space available for an
escape to the North of Tivoli. The final contingent of 1JR was to enter from the
East and create a buffer zone between Tivoli Gardens and the communities to its
North. The objective was to prevent gunmen from crossing the Northern
boundary of Tivoli Gardens to get into or out of Tivoli Gardens. This final
contingent set off at 11.00 a.m. on 24 May.
13.21.
Much of this planning had little practical effect once the internal
security operation was full blown on 24 May.