Westmoreland police call for unified front against criminals
Published:Saturday | February 26, 2022 | 12:05 AMHopeton Bucknor/Gleaner Writer
THE WESTMORELAND police have made an appeal to relevant collective voices across the parish to be vociferous in unison in demanding that criminals desist from attacking the police in the lawful execution of their duties.
The appeal was made by head of Westmoreland police operations, Deputy Superintendent Adrian Hamilton, following the recent fatal shooting of one of Westmoreland’s most-wanted men, and the arrest of several other wanted men and persons of interest.
“Individuals must be reminded that while our ultimate objective is to preserve every life, the police are trained to respond and employ that degree of force that is proportional to any attack with which we are faced,” Hamilton told The Gleaner.
“What we require is for all the good citizens in every nook and cranny of the parish to stand up and stand with us as we fearlessly tackle this crime cancer.”
According to Hamilton, the most recent arrest came on Tuesday when another wanted man, 20-year-old Rojay Webb, otherwise called ‘City man’ and who was being sought by the police for illegal possession of firearm and assault at common law, was captured in an operation carried out along the Alma main road in Grange Hill.
Five other men who were also travelling in the Toyota Voxy motor vehicle have also been taken into custody and the vehicle seized.
“What we are seeing is the manifestation of a laser-like focus and relentless pursuit of guns, gangs and gunmen, which, in the past 14 days, has resulted in the arrest of six wanted men, four of whom were on the Westmoreland division’s Top 5 Most Wanted list.
“There has also been the seizure of an AK-47 rifle, with two magazines and 13 7.62mm cartridges. Also eight persons of interest were taken into custody, with two facing impending murder charges, and six to face identification parades in relation to serious crimes committed across the division.”
The senior cop also told The Gleaner that with the assistance of law enforcement agencies to include the Lottery Scam Task Force, the police have also been targeting the scammers and scamming networks across the parish with consistent intelligence-led operations and ongoing investigations, especially around the more sordid criminal combatants in the parish.
“We know it’s not an easy task but we are in this for the long haul, we will continue to target these criminals whenever they are and bring every single one of them to face justice,” Hamilton said.
The parish of Westmoreland, which is the second bloodiest parish across the Area One Police Division, has seen an increase in murders since the start of the year, with over 19 murders already committed.