No major crime in St James since declaration of SOE

Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Area One, Clifford Chambers, says there has been no major crime in St James since a state of emergency (SOE) was declared for the parish on November 8.

The state of emergency was imposed amid an increase in gang violence in sections of the parish, including the November 6 shooting death of two primary school boys and another man while they were travelling in a taxi.

Speaking at the end of the Jamaica Constabulary Force's 156th Anniversary Commemorative Service, held at the Falmouth Seventh-day Adventist Church on Saturday, Chambers said the SOE has given the police an opportunity to reduce the crime rate.

"In the past we have had states of emergency and we have had major crimes, though reduced, but we have had major crimes being committed. What we have had here now is that since this state of public emergency, the parish in which it was declared has not had one major crime.

"No murder, shooting, robbery, rape, aggravated assault, no major crime has been committed since the inception of this last state of emergency," Chambers told The Gleaner.

Chambers said the combined effort of the military and the police has reaped major success in the control of crime in the area. He said the police are hoping to significantly curtail crime in the parish for the rest of the year.

"We are not saying it is the end of it, because we know the criminals are out there and they, based on our intelligence and information, tend to watch and observe and then adapt. But we will do what is necessary to maintain the crime levels as it is now," he stated.

- Leon Jackson

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