KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Police Commissioner Dr. Kevin Blake is promising that law enforcement officials will continue to locate and dismantle criminal networks across the island as National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang insisted that the members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JPF) are not involved in extrajudicial killings.
Addressing the handing over ceremony of a newly J$200 million (One Jamaica dollar=US$0.008 cents) built police station in Lacovia, St Elizabeth, southwest of here, Blake said the police would not be complacent in protecting communities from criminals.
“We know that crime is a dynamic and ever-evolving threat, and we must remain vigilant and unyielding in our efforts to protect our communities, and I say this without hesitation,” Blake said.
“We will not surrender our homes, businesses, or communities to criminals. Some seek to destabilize and terrorize law-abiding citizens of the nation, but the JCF will always stand firm as a barrier between them and our people.
“I urge every resident of Lacovia to stand firm and united in the fight against crime, be intolerant of criminality in all its forms, work alongside us, support your local police, and together, we will continue to keep the community safe.
Blake said, “Together, we will drive down crime even further and build a Jamaica where peace and security are the foundations upon which our citizens can thrive.”
His remarks came as police shot and killed a man on Wednesday, said to be a high-ranking member of the Spanish Town-based Clansman gang. He is identified as 55-year-old Richard Evans, also called Richie, and is from the Mollison district near Christiana.
The police say a semi-automatic pistol was taken from him.
In his address to the ceremony, the National Security Minister said that the JCF was not killing criminals but instead wanted to have them placed before the courts.
“The Commissioner has told me that the majority of targets are, in fact, before the courts, but there are those who choose to take on the police, and we have had that,” Chang reiterating that the JCF is not a hit squad.
“If they (criminals) want to come in, we will take them to the courts. We have a sound justice system, and the police prepare cases well. They go to court, and the police prefer that and so do we as ministers and the government.
“We are not out there training anybody to kill anybody for the sake of extrajudicial whatever it is. We want to carry them to court. We want them to stop shooting. That is the first thing, and if they stop shooting, they go about their business. If they carry an illegal gun, we find them,” Chang told the ceremony.
“If you find a criminal with a gun, there’s going to be a shoot-out. I have said it over and over, so it is not news again. I don’t expect my police to get hurt. They are bright, responsible Jamaicans committed to making this country a better place.
“So if one has to go down, the criminal will go down, as simple as that. It is common sense that if the police have better intelligence, are better equipped, and are on the road more, they will have more engagements,” he added.
Official figures show that there have been over 50 fatal shootings so far this year by the security forces, more than double for the comparative period last year, and Chang said with the increased deployment of police personnel to tackle criminals, once there is a confrontation, there will be more shootings.
“Fifty police shootings is not sending police out there chasing down any one man to shoot down somebody. It means the police are in a position to engage criminals, and if you have more engagement, you are going to have more shootings… If they surrender, they will take them to court,” he said.
“This month, at the rate we are going, you will have the lowest number of murders in Jamaica for the last 25 years and more,” said Chang, acknowledging that illegal firearms are still prevalent in the country.
“We’re well over 1,000 shootings in Jamaica annually. That means you have people going out with guns shooting, and when you have 1,000 shootings, in some of the shootings 12 guns (are used); anywhere from one to sometimes more,” said Chang.
and then 