Davis ready to support new SOE in St James
Published:Monday | February 1, 2021 | 12:06 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
St James Southern Member of Parliament Homer Davis has expressed his support for calls to reinstate a state of emergency (SOE) in the northwestern parish to rein in serious crimes.
“As someone who is now sitting in the parliament, when that time comes about to revisit [the SOE], ... rest assured that I will give my vote in support of a further state of emergency,” the former Montego Bay mayor said at a media appreciation function in Montego Bay last Thursday.
St James has been under SOEs for the larger part of the last three years, with the latest such initiative ending last August ahead of the general election.
According to police data, the parish recorded 18 murders since the start of the year up to last Friday, a 350 per cent increase on the four homicides recorded in the parish for the first 29 days of 2020.
“We need to have something in place to restrict the appetite of crime, this murder appetite of these young people who are going around and doing all these shootings. We need sustained crime-fighting activities, and I think the state of emergency was one such mechanism that kept a lid on murders in the parish,” said Davis, stressing that while he would support such a measure, he was against the abuse of citizens’ rights.
SEMBLANCE OF CALM
With an unprecedented 335 murders in 2017 and St James taking on the dubious title as the nation’s murder capital, the Government declared an SOE in St James in January 2018, giving the security forces increased powers to battle criminals.
Davis noted that the measures had returned some semblance of calm to Montego Bay and the wider parish.
The prolonged SOE had been challenged by critics, calling on the Government to not abuse the measure and institute a crime plan.
In September 2020, a ruling by Justice Bertram Morrison that the continuous detention of five men, without charging them, under the SOE was unconstitutional, further challenged the Government to find other ways to address the crime problem.
Stung by the Supreme Court ruling, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the Government would not allow criminals to derail the gains made under the SOEs, adding that his administration would seek to address the constitutional concerns that were raised.
The Government has appealed Morrison’s ruling.