JCF to Continue Dismantling Gangs

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) will continue to focus its crime fighting strategies on dismantling gangs across the island, this year, Commissioner of Police, Dr. Carl Williams, has emphasised.

The Commissioner said experience has shown that when gangs and gangsters are targeted, this will reduce the levels of violence, adding that this approach is a continuation from last year.

Dr. Williams was speaking at a press conference, held at his Old Hope Road offices, in Kingston, on January 7.

The Commissioner informed that gang related murders were reduced from 932 in 2013 to 600 in 2014. “We also deployed a lot of our resources in disarming the society of the illegal guns,” he said.

During the year, 632 illegal guns were seized and gun related violence was reduced from 882 in 2013 to 714 in 2014.

The Commissioner said that the anti-robbery strategy, which involved high visibility presence in market areas and other commercial spaces worked well to reduce opportunities for murders, particularly those committed during the course of robberies.

“Our investigative strategies which targeted the most prolific violence producers contributed to the arrest of numerous murderers, including those in the quadruple murder in Bog Walk in October of last year as well as the triple murder in Rockfort,” he noted.