Special Cabinet meeting set for today - National Security Council makes recommendations on crime
Published:Tuesday | February 7, 2017 | 12:00 AM
Amid growing public concern about crimes against women and children, a special meeting of Cabinet scheduled for today will centre on the potential approval of recommendations made by the National Security Council to curb the murder wave across Jamaica.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness convened an all-day meeting of the National Security Council yesterday to address the upsurge in crime, particularly murders. Current trends, including the emerging practise of circulating videos depicting the commission of crimes, were topics under the microscope.
The Office of the Prime Minister issued a statement last night saying, "After careful deliberation and assessment of options that can be immediately implemented, the National Security Council has made certain recommendations for the consideration and approval of Cabinet."
CLAIMS OF FAILURE
The meeting comes on the heels of a demonstration mounted by residents of Allman Town yesterday, calling for Holness to take strong action to protect the nation's women and children. Some claimed that the Holness administration had failed to adequately address the problem.
On Monday, women clad in black took to the streets of Montego Bay to protest against the recent spate of violence against women and children, who were being killed in increasing numbers in the western city.
Among the latest victims of the national crime wave are 15-year-old Shineka Gray and 23-year-old Nile Brown.
Last Thursday, the decomposing body of Gray, a student of Green Pond High School in St James, was found in the Meadows of Irwin in the parish, and the body of Brown, of a Denham Town, Kingston, address, was found in a barrel in Ramble, St Thomas, on Sunday.