Businesses worried about crime spike in Westmoreland

WESTERN BUREAU:

Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WCCI) President Moses Chybar strongly believes that gangsters, coupled with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, are hurting the parish’s economy.

“We believe that this wave of crime in the parish is being influenced by several factors, including that of the gang-related activities and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy,” said Chybar in an interview with The Gleaner.

As it relates to crime specifically, the chamber boss said that while the WCCI does not have any substantial evidence to back up its claim, it is of the view that the gangs in the parish are now recruiting school-age children, who are home alone as a result of the COVID-19. “We have virtual schools everywhere. There are so many teenagers at home, and we believe that criminal gangs are recruiting some of them,” said Chybar. “What we are seeing appears to be the gangs fighting each other in reprisal tactics, and a lot of it might be influenced by what is happening in the economy. Since COVID, a large number of persons have fallen into the unemployed bracket.”

According to the chamber boss, some of the persons who have not lost their jobs are still facing financial challenges.“Their disposable income overall is less than it used to be, and there is some amount of hardship being experienced by a lot of people; and that in itself, too, might be a factor causing the upsurge (in crime) that we are seeing now,” continued Chybar.

WORRISOME SITUATION

With the situation getting increasingly worrisome, the WCCI boss said the organisation is anxious to hear what plans the Government is putting in place to adjust its national crime response in the face of the ongoing pandemic.“One would expect that with persons losing jobs and with disposable income going down, there is going to be some problems, and there are going to be those persons who are going to try to do things like what we are seeing now,” said Chybar. “The break-ins are more, robberies and shootings are up, so we want to know if there is any form of adjustment to the crime plan to address these things.”Like Chybar, Superintendent Robert Gordon, who heads the Westmoreland Police Division, believes the activities of the criminal gangs are behind the upsurge in major crimes over recent weeks.“I don’t have the evidence to support that (teenagers are being recruited into gangs), but it is not improbable that that might be one of the possibilities,” Gordon told The Gleaner. “But, yes, criminal gang activities are a contributory factor in the surge that the parish is now experiencing.”

While not giving away any operational strategies, Gordon said the police will be intensifying their efforts to weed out the six gangs who they believe are contributing to the spate of violent crimes.

“Certainly, if not directly in violent acts, they have contributed significantly to the fear of crime in the space,” said Gordon, whose command covers some 10 police stations.“What I can tell you is that gang conflict is a part of the uptick in the recent flare-up of crime in the parish,” said Gordon, who stated that they will not be giving any clues when they are closing in on the gangsters.

Westmoreland came to national attention as a premier centre of criminality in October 2017 when 19 operatives of the Dexter Street Gang were charged for being members of a criminal organization. The 19, who were subsequently freed, consisted of 15 males and four females. They were all charged under the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisations) Act 2014, which is commonly referred to as the ‘anti-gang legislation’.