Prime Minister PJ Patterson warned on Saturday that the recent change of leadership within the ranks of the Jamaica Constabulary Force would not be enough to make a dent in the levels of crime and violence plaguing the country.

The public, the PNP president urged, has to play a role; and so too does his political party.

Patterson asked delegates of the party’s 66th annual conference to mandate the party’s National Executive Council to discuss the issue when it meets next month. There was also a need for involvement at the community level, he said.

Lucius Thomas became the country’s 25th police commissioner last week, replacing Francis Forbes who was the police chief for the last eight years.

Forbes had been harshly criticised for failing to lead a team of men and women who could break the cycle of crime and violence that resulted in almost 1,500 murders last year.

Thomas is now being keenly watched to see what new approach he will bring to the table. But so far, the murders have continued unabated, with 77 in the first 16 days of this year.

The Patterson administration has also come in for its fair share of criticism for failing to curb crime over the years, despite the launch of several initiatives and units.

On Saturday, Patterson suggested that now would be a good time to look at the success of Operation Kingfish, the last unit mandated to co-ordinate the efforts of various police departments in order to dismantle gangs, target drug dons and curb major crimes.

Speaking in Montego Bay that same day, head of Operation Kingfish Assistant Commissioner of Police Glenmore Hines told a crime forum that the unit had:

. seized cocaine valued at approximately $4 billion;

. seized 50 go-fast boats;

. destroyed several acres of ganja fields; and has

. arrested 60 people for crimes ranging from drug trafficking to murder.

He added that the organisation, which has seized an average of one gun a day, has also identified the major organised crime network operating in the country and is expected to make several arrests soon.

“We are satisfied that we have made sufficient work against these networks, we have developed cases and these cases are ready to be prosecuted,” ACP Hines said.

He added that the police have now adopted a stop-and-search policy for vessels in the country’s territorial waters, in a move to snare Jamaican fishermen who are involved in the importation of illegal weapons and the illegal narcotics trade.

Over the past two years, we have discovered that a number of our fishermen leave Jamaica (and go) to Haiti, to the Dominican Republic, to Honduras, with ganja – and they come back with guns,” ACP Hines said.

To date, more than 100 boats have been stopped and searched, several of which were found to be transporting contraband, he said.