SOEs Effective In Reducing Violent Crimes – Police Commissioner
By: , January 28, 2020The Key Point:
Photo: Donald De La Haye
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness (right), listens as Commissioner of Police, Major General Antony Anderson (at podium), provides details regarding the State of Public Emergency (SOE) in the Eastern Kingston Police Division. Occasion was a press conference to announce the declaration of the SOE at Jamaica House on Sunday (January 26). Also pictured (from left) are Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Rocky Meade; and Minister of National Security, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang.The Facts
- Aimed at saving lives and restoring peace, safety and security, SOEs were last year declared in St. James, Hanover and Westmoreland; Clarendon and St. Catherine; and St. Andrew South.
- “This methodology has been very effective in reducing violent crimes,” Major General Antony Anderson said.
The Full Story
Commissioner of Police, Major General Antony Anderson, says the States of Public Emergency (SOEs) continue to have positive results in the areas they have been implemented.
Aimed at saving lives and restoring peace, safety and security, SOEs were last year declared in St. James, Hanover and Westmoreland; Clarendon and St. Catherine; and St. Andrew South.
“This methodology has been very effective in reducing violent crimes,” Major General Antony Anderson said.
“Emergency security measures continue to be successful in the… divisions in which they have been implemented. We have seen reductions in murders in Westmoreland and Hanover of 48 per cent and 42 per cent, respectively, when compared with the similar period prior to the declaration of the tri-parish SOE. Shootings are down in both parishes by 32 per cent and 74 per cent respectively,” he informed.
The Police Commissioner was speaking at a press conference at Jamaica House on Sunday (January 26), during which Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, announced the declaration of an SOE in Eastern Kingston.
He noted, further, that in St. James, which has the longest-running SOE, shootings are down five per cent. He noted that while murders were up seven per cent, they are trending down.
“We are nearly finished with the month of January and we have had four homicides in St. James for the whole month, so far,” he said.
As for St. Andrew South, the Commissioner informed that there has been a 16 per cent drop in murders and a 27 per cent reduction in shootings when compared to the similar period before the SOE.
“In St Catherine, murders are down 34 per cent, with shootings down 41 per cent. In Clarendon, murders were down 63 per cent, and shootings have declined 73 per cent,” he said.
Major General Anderson noted that, overall, the year 2020 “has begun with signs of success in the implementation of our policing strategies”.
“Murder is down five per cent when compared with this time last year, and shootings are down seven per cent overall,” he said.