Gangsters targetted under Hanover curfew
Published:Friday | June 28, 2024 | 12:08 AMAdrian Frater/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Following the recent outbreak in lawlessness, which includes five murders in three separate incidents within a 24-hour span, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has launched a 48-hour curfew in some sections of Hanover as part of the effort to rein in criminals.
The curfew, which started at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, and is slated to end at 6 p.m. today, has seen the security forces covering townships, such as the parish capital, Lucea, Johnson Town, Elgin Town Kew district, and Brissett community, which are seen as criminal hotspots and potential hotspots.
When he recently visited Johnson Town, the home district of three of the murder victims, which included a father and son, two weeks ago, National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang said that while progress has been somewhat slow in curtailing the lawlessness, gangsters would not be allowed to operate with impunity in the parish.
“The police are making progress, but it will take some time. There are too many young men and too many guns available … and too many young men who are willing to kill their friends,” Chang said.
The men killed in the brazen Johnson Town shooting were identified as 41-year-old Merrick Calvin, his 21-year-old son, Merrick Calvin Jr; and 29-year-old Greg Gray. They were all shot and killed at an under-construction building on the seaside adjacent to the Johnson Town main road.
When The Gleaner spoke to a resident of Johnson Town on Thursday morning, she was seemingly unimpressed by the imposition of the curfew, arguing that it is a method that has been tried before without any great success.
“This curfew is like a stop-gap measure. We have had them before and they have not produced the desired result,” the woman said. “We want the government to flood the parish with soldiers and police. Criminals must be scared to walk the streets of this parish.”
Hanover, Jamaica’s smallest parish behind Kingston, once had the enviable distinction of being Jamaica’s safest parish. However, over recent years criminals fleeing justice in neighbouring St James and Westmoreland, and lottery scammers seeking quiet surroundings to operate from, have taken a liking to the parish.
Last year, former Hanover police commander, Superintendent Sharon Beeput told The Gleaner that one of the main challenges facing the police in that parish was trying to keep gangsters, who see Hanover as a safe haven, out of the parish.
However, the parish’s newly minted commander, Superintendent Andrew Nish, whose crime-fighting resume in St James was most impressive, has made it quite clear that criminals will not flourish under his watch.
“I have one message to these violence producers and it is that we cannot survive together in this parish, and I am not the one who is going to be leaving,” Nish told The Gleaner in a recent interview. “The investment of those who are seeking to build the parish must be protected and the residents who want to live in peace must be allowed to do so.”