St Mary sees sevenfold jump in murders
Published:Wednesday | May 4, 2022 | 12:15 AMKimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
The St Mary Police Division has made its way on to the radar of Police Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson, having recorded a 700 per cent increase in murders since the start of the year.
The division, which recorded only two murders up to this point last year, has, since January, recorded 16 homicides.
“It is alarming for us,” Anderson admitted on Tuesday during a Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) press briefing at his Old Hope Road office in St Andrew.
“We recently sent additional assets to St Mary to assist them to address that problem. We met with the St Mary team two weeks ago to look at their issues. So, I expect that St Mary will also start to come back into line.”
But despite the increase, the commissioner said that the division’s overall numbers pale in comparison to several other police divisions, especially those in the western end of the island, where St James, Westmoreland, Trelawny, and Hanover have accounted for 156 of the 463 homicides recorded up to April 26.
Anderson said much of the murders in St Mary resulted from interpersonal conflicts.
“They (conflicts) start and then become a tit-for-tat. Some of them are related to one family and then that plays out in a number of murders,” the senior cop said.
Of the 16 murders, nine are conflict-related, head of the St Mary Police Division, Superintendent Bobette Morgan-Simpson, told The Gleaner in giving a breakdown of the figure.
She said that domestic violence accounted for two of the homicides, while the remaining five have been categorised as non-specific.
“Some of them were really very simple conflicts, which could have been dealt with so easily if persons would have only allowed themselves to talk about things. But that’s just how it is in St Mary,” Morgan-Simpson said.
The superintendent said that except for murders, the division has seen a decrease in serious crimes since January, with a clear-up rate of 80 per cent.
She said of the 35 cases of violent crimes, 28 have been disposed of.
“So, it’s not that we have a gang conflict that is going on. We don’t have that. What we have are really disputes that have resulted in murders,” she said.
In the meantime, Anderson said that there has been a 1.7 per cent increase in murders across the island.
All other major crimes are down 6.2 per cent, with shootings, rape, robbery, and break-ins down 12.4 per cent, 21.3 per cent, 9.7 per cent, and 5.7 per cent, respectively.
He said 268 illegal firearms have been seized so far this year, resulting in a six per cent increase over last year. Rifle seizures have increased by 36 per cent, while there has been a six per cent uptick in the seizure of pistols.
Anderson said the police have also made 59 arrests in the seizure of 184 kilograms of cocaine and 7,401 kilograms of ganja.
The cocaine seized has an estimated street value of US$9.2 million, or J$1.4 billion, while the ganja is estimated to be worth US$19.5 million, or J$3 billion.
“The commissioners said the main sources of funding for criminal gangs are the proceeds from drug trafficking, lottery scamming, arms trafficking, and extortion,” said Anderson, adding that the police have increased collaboration with the Financial Investigations Divisions, the Jamaica Customs Agency, the Jamaica Defence Force, the Major Organised Crime & Anti-Corruption Agency, and international partners.
He said a series of coordinated operational activities over the weekend targeting lottery scammers resulted in 48 people being taken into custody, the arrest of 37 people suspected of scamming activities, charges laid against eight wanted persons, the seizure of 16 vehicles, 21 electronic devices, and six lead sheets. Over US$5,000, J$1 million and 2.4 kilograms of cocaine were also seized.
“These operations are ongoing and will be a feature of our policing activities as we assess the environment, continue to develop our intelligence and align our responses accordingly,” said Anderson.