Dismantling of gangs key to reducing crime in St Catherine North
Published:Friday | September 10, 2021 | 12:06 AMTanesha Mundle/Gleaner Writer
The St Catherine North Police Division is attributing its success in the current reduction in murders and shootings in the division to making inroads in the dismantling of the feared Spanish Town-based Clansman gang, which for years has been fuelling major crimes in the division.
Internal gang conflict sparked by power struggle among the top tier members of the criminal organisation had also contributed to the high crime rate in the division.
But the police have arrested a number of the alleged gang members, including the alleged leader, Andre Blackman, who is scheduled to stand trial along with 29 others on September 20 in the Supreme Court.
About 50 alleged members were captured in different operations; however, 20 were later released due to a lack of evidence in their criminal matters.
Former alleged leader of the gang, Tesha Miller, is also in custody serving a life sentence for accessory to murder before the fact and accessory to murder after the fact, in relation to the 2008 murder of Douglas Chambers, the then chairman of the state-owned Jamaica Urban Transit Company.
A struggle for power between Miller, who was at the time reportedly heading the gang, and Blackman was reported to have started the bloody internal feud within the gang which, according to the police, rakes in $1.5 million daily in extortion rackets.
DENT IN GANG’S OPERATION
However, division commander, Senior Superintendent Howard Chambers, said although gang violence remains a challenge for the division, the police are confident that they have put a dent in the gang’s operation.
“We have been making some strident moves over the last couple of months and probably that’s why the division has been enjoying a reduction in major crimes,” he said.
“In fact, as we speak, the division is 17 per cent down in murders. Last year at this time we were at 80 murders and we are at 69 this morning. When it comes to shooting, we are 35 per cent down,” SSP Chambers added.
Further, he noted that murders and shootings which had been rampant in the major town centres in the division had decreased significantly.
“We haven’t had any major incident since the start of the year and this is because of our assiduous work in the area of public order operation coupled with the use of JamaicaEye, which is all over the place in the towns, and so we have been proactive in doing a lot of operation in the town centres,” SSP Chambers pointed out.
However, the St Catherine crime boss said despite the success, the police will be increasing their effort to clamp down on the gang’s operation, as the gang has again split and different factions have spilled over into Jones Avenue and Quarry Hill communities.
He also pointed out that a new “grouping” is in the Frazer’s Content community.
According to SSP Chambers, gang members in those areas, as well as in Shelter Rock, are fuelling a fresh wave of gang violence in the division, which in one weekend alone has claimed the lives of five persons.
However, he said the police will be intensifying their operation in those areas.