WITH 147 people murdered in the area, the South St Andrew police division has the dubious distinction of having the most murders in the island since the start of the year.

The police division’s murder toll inched up with Tuesday night’s fatal shooting of 30 year-old Oneil Forbes of Collies Road, Kingston 11. Cops, who were called in after residents heard explosions, found Forbes’ bullet-riddled body on Ellastowe Road at about 9:00 pm.

His death came on the heels of the vicious stabbing death of 24 year-old Brinton Barrett who was attacked by two men who dragged him from a shop in which he was sitting before meting out their own brand of justice. The men, who accused Barrett of stealing $3,000 and a cell phone, stabbed him all over his body. The incident took place at about 3:30 pm on Tuesday.

The Kingston 8 resident was taken to hospital but succumbed to his injuries while receiving treatment.

Police say they are now hunting a man known only as “Randy” and his unidentified crony in connection with Barrett’s death.

That killing followed Monday night’s slaying of 17 year-old Orlando “Shawn” Cunningham from Sandy Lane in the Drewsland area. He was also stabbed and killed.

Police say they were alerted by passers-by who saw Cunningham’s body lying on Washington Boulevard. Forensic investigators say there were several stab wounds on the teen’s body.

And despite the runaway murder figures, cops have been making some inroads in seizing illegal firearms in the division, with 56 seized up to Tuesday.

The last weapon was confiscated on Monday when two men on bicycles eluded cops who tried to stop them along Henderson Avenue. The duo left behind their cycles and a fully-loaded Bryco semi-automatic pistol, the police said.

The gun is one of 37 pistols recovered in South St Andrew since the start of the year. The cops have also taken in 10 revolvers, four shotguns and five assault rifles.

The densely-populated depressed communities that make up much of the police division are a perfect breeding ground for criminality, lawmen say.

Some of the tough, inner-city communities nestled in the division include Seaview Gardens, Tavares Gardens or “Payne Land”, Tower Hill, Olympic Gardens, Waterhouse, “Mongoose Town”, Whitfield Town, Cockburn Gardens, Drewsland, Maverley and Duhaney Park.

There are six police stations in the division: Hunts Bay, which is the divisional headquarters, and the Seaview Gardens, Duhaney Park, Newport West, Olympic Gardens and Ferry police stations.

The high levels of unemployment, according to one lawman, is part of the problem.

“There are too many people in this division without work. If you see where some people live you would think again,”

Inspector Lennox Harper of Hunts Bay told the Observer. “A 14 year-old girl is forced to bathe outside while the boys watch, because there are no proper facilities. None of us would want our daughter to be subjected to that.”

Undaunted by the challenges they face, cops from the area were going all out to nab the criminals, he said.

Last Saturday, lawmen from the division travelled to Hellgate in Hanover and apprehended a wanted fugitive during a pre-dawn sting operation.

The man, police say, is wanted for the murder of Paul Brown, who was shot and killed in the Oakland Glades housing scheme last June. He was charged on a warrant and will appear before the court next week.

And late last year, police from Hunts Bay tracked a criminal from the area to Mandeville and killed him after an alleged shoot-out.

The man, police say, was wanted for the August 2003 murder of 23 year-old Aletha Henry who was shot in the back of the head as she chatted with a group of people a few chains from a police post in Tavares Gardens.

“We are determined to get them wherever they go. Once they commit crimes in this division, we are going at them,” said Detective Inspector Altermoth Campbell.