Westmoreland top cop pleased with state of emergency

Western Bureau:

Deputy Superintendent of Police Gasford Cole, the commanding officer for Westmoreland, told last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation that he was quite pleased with the impact the ongoing state of public emergency (SOE) was having on the parish, which had recorded 30 murders since the start of the year.

“In terms of the crime, we have seen a major reduction so far and while it is early days yet, the shooting which would normally take place on a daily and weekly basis has ceased since the declaration of the state of emergency,” Cole told councillors.

While gangsters were kept in check in St James after the 2018 SOE was declared in the aftermath of the record 336 murders committed in the parish in 2017, Westmoreland became the new murder capital of the west in 2018, recording 141 murders as blood-thirsty gangsters wreaked havoc in places like Savanna-la-Mar and Grange Hill.

RESIDENTS ALSO PLEASED

Since the start of the SOE, the killings have stopped and while there has been one reported shooting incident, residents across the western parish have been hailing the SOE and calling for it to remain in place until the gangsters are displaced and their weapons taken out of circulation.

“We have three checkpoints within the Westmoreland borders, one at Whitehouse, one at Kilmarnock, and one at the St Elizabeth-Westmoreland border,” Cole told councillors. “So if you are coming through any of these checkpoints, we are asking that you corporate with our men and women at these locations.”

While not providing details on the number of persons who have been detained since the SOE started just over a week ago, Cole said that the juveniles who have been detained, are being held at the Cambridge Police station in St James.

“Juveniles who are remanded under the SOE are taken back to the parish when they have court dates,” said Cole. “The Frome Police Station, where juveniles are normally held, is being used as the detention centre for adult SOE detainees in Westmoreland.”

Cole said that adult detainees who were found to be persons wanted for crimes committed in the parish have been transferred to the major detention centre at the Montego Bay Police Station in Freeport.