Major Crimes Down In Westmoreland

Superintendent of Police in charge of Operations in Westmoreland, Carlos Russell, says there is a decline in major crimes in the parish.

He said that while the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had an effect on the level of crime, the hard work of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and a fruitful collaboration with the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) are also credited for the decline.

Superintendent Russell was speaking at the monthly meeting of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation in Savanna-la-Mar, on June 11.

He noted that the police have been able to “keep a lid on some of our major hotspot areas in the parish”.

The Superintendent said that business owners and citizens had expressed concern about robberies during the pandemic, but cases of robberies have so far been very low.

Mr. Russell added that in the few instances of robberies, the JCF had been able to, “through our investigation arm, bring persons into custody, and we have made arrests”.

He noted that recently there was a robbery in the Haddo area, and police were able to intercept that motor vehicle and recover a firearm.

Meanwhile, Superintendent Russell implored councillors to encourage the citizens from their areas to get off the streets before the stipulated curfew hours, as they could be arrested if they disobey the Order.

The curfew hours, which are from 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., have been implemented by the Government to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“We don’t want to be out there arresting persons, but we are hearing of persons still trying to have their illegal parties and we have seen instances where when we go into certain communities, persons are running up and down. We do not want that, we want persons to stay off the streets and respect the curfew that is in place,” Superintendent Russell said.