SOE Declared for St. James

A State of Public Emergency (SOE) has been declared for the parish of St. James.

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, announced the enhanced security measure during a post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House in St. Andrew on Wednesday (November 8).

The SOE will be in effect for an initial 14 days.

The announcement follows an increase in gang violence in sections of the parish, including Monday’s (November 6) shooting death of two primary-school boys and another man who were travelling in a taxi when they were fired upon by gunmen.

“After careful consideration and review of the current crime situation in St. James, His Excellency the Governor-General has declared a State of Public Emergency in the entire parish of St. James. I advised the Governor-General to make the declaration on the recommendation of the Chief of Defence Staff and the Commissioner of Police. It is the assessment of the security forces that the situation in St. James merits this response and the use of emergency powers,” the Prime Minister said.

On Tuesday (November 7), the Parliament rose in unison to condemn the barbaric murder of the schoolchildren.

The Prime Minister said the shooting of the schoolchildren was not an “ordinary crime; this is the worst of the worst”.

“I am not here this morning to stir up the nation into vengeance but I think this country needs to stop sending mixed signals to criminals. They are not going to return any grace you give them; they are not reasonable people. They are terrorists and they must be treated as such. What occurred is an act of terror,” he stressed.

“They don’t respect your human rights, your dignity and they have no concern for your safety and security. In the pursuit of their limited and narrow objective, they are also pursuing the destruction of our State; this is not what is acceptable in a free and democratic society,” he said.

The Prime Minister assured Jamaicans that “we will not wilt; we will not resile in the face of terror”.

He said the use of the SOE will provide more power to deter, intervene and intercept “and that will give some respite for detectives to be able to do their work, for intelligence services to work and to give safety and security to the people. We have always said… this is not going to be a long-term measure, but as long as the problem is greater than our capacity, we will have to use it and we have been using it quite strategically”.

Prime Minister Holness said the Government continues to ensure that the rights of citizens are not being violated when the security measure is being utilised and is committed to implementing laws to fight crime as well as provide support to the security forces.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, in his remarks, said the Government will act within the ambit of the law to secure the lives of Jamaicans.

Commissioner of Police, Major General Antony Anderson, said that St. James has been one of the more violent parishes in the country, with organised and highly violent criminal gangs.

He informed that as of November 6, the St. James Division recorded 167 murders and 100 shootings, which is the “highest [number of] violent crimes within any police division. It is down from where it was but we are nowhere near where it should be”.

In addition, 180 illegal guns have been seized, which the Commissioner pointed out represents 30 per cent of the country’s total firearm seizure, which currently stands at 608 since the start of the year.

He noted that there were 916 firearm-related charges against 841 persons within the first year of the passage of the new Firearms Act.

Acting Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier Markland Lloyd, said the JDF continues to increase security deployments to support Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) activities within the St. James division, with more than 11,000 such deployments since January 1, 2023.

“This marks our continued efforts towards maintaining peace and stability within the parish. With the additional infusion of authority from the SOE, the joint forces may better concentrate enhanced initiatives on specific criminal activities that have emerged within the space,” he pointed out.

He urged citizens to cooperate with the security forces, noting that lawlessness and criminality cannot continue unabated.

Persons may call 876-837-8888 or 311 to provide information to the security forces.