St James police vow to tame marauding criminals
Published:Friday | October 11, 2024 | 12:09 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Despite a recent incident in which a policeman was seriously injured in a hit-and run incident, Superintendent Eron Samuels, the police commander for St James, says law enforcement remains resolute in their bid to rein in violence-producers and seize illegal guns.
In pushing for the support of residents during yesterday’s monthly meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation, Samuels urged citizens to cooperate with law enforcement, including during routine traffic stops. The hit-and-run incident took place during one such operation in Granville.
“As it relates to the constable who was hit down, he was conducting a traffic stop and a coordinated roadblock within the Granville space as we had received some intelligence about vehicles travelling in that space with weapons. We are asking members of the public to obey the police officers, and this incident, indeed, seemed intentional,” said Samuels.
“We really and truly want to ensure that our officers remain committed to what we are doing. This will not stop us from trying to rid the streets of weapons and the transportation of weapons in and around the St James division,” added Samuels.
During the hit-and-run incident, which took place on October 4, the police constable signalled a white Toyota Probox motor car to stop. The driver reportedly slowed down but then sped up and hit the officer, who was thrown over a nearby precipice and suffered multiple injuries.
The driver, who fled the scene, surrendered to the police the following day in the presence of his attorney. It is expected that charges will be laid against him soon.
In response to queries from councillors about plans to tackle the escalating crime situation in Lilliput, Samuels told the meeting that plans are in place to carry out operations in that area.
“Addressing the matter of Lilliput, we have placed a curfew, and we have increased the deployment of both police and military within that space. We will be doing some operations there, and we will get some results based on what we are picking up, and it may lead us outside of the space based on what we are doing,” Samuels told the meeting.
St James has recorded 105 murders between January 1 and October 5 this year, which is lower than the 149 murders committed over the corresponding period last year.
Despite that decrease, St James remains the division with the most murders since the start of the year. The parish is followed by Westmoreland with 79 murders and St Andrew South with 76 murders.
Approximately 72 illegal weapons have been seized in St James since January. This includes several weapons taken from criminals during stop-and-search operations.