BROWN’S TOWN, St Ann – Four grade 10 students, said to be part of a gang operating at the Brown’s Town High School in St Ann, were taken in by the police and cautioned for allegedly participating in an extortion racket on the school compound.

One irate parent, who went to drop off his son, told the Observer that he witnessed a student with a pair of pliers, threatening to pull a tooth out of a younger student if his demands for lunch money were not met.

The parent alleged that members of the gang would turn the younger students upside down and attempt to shake money from their pockets if their demands were resisted. Further resistance would mean facing the dreaded pliers, the parent said.

A teacher at the school confirmed the existence of the gang and their activities and said the matter only came to a head after a youngster threatened to kill one of the racketeers after he was cut on the mouth because he had reported to school authorities that he was robbed.

The youngster, apparently not satisfied with the alleged inaction of the school authority, decided to take matters into his own hands, and threatened to retaliate by killing a member of the gang.

Detective Radcliffe Solan, sub-officer in charge of crime at the Brown’s Town station, confirmed yesterday afternoon that four students were taken in regarding the extortion racket earlier in the day.

“Five students were taken in, four in relation to the extortion racket, and we seized a pair of pliers,” said Solan.

He said the students were not charged with an offence but were cautioned and released in the care of their parents.

Det Solan said since September the police have become increasingly aware of the incidents of extortion at Brown’s Town High, which he described as a problem school.

He said the police have had several requests from the school to visit the premises since the start of the school year to address several problems facing the institution.

Just last week two students of the school pleaded guilty to possession of ganja when they appeared in juvenile court, Det Solan said. The two are to be sentenced later this month. They are reportedly still attending school.

The school’s principal was said to be attending a meeting and was unavailable for comments. But a vice-principal, Joyce Wilson, who works the afternoon shift, said she was unaware of the particular incident as she only went on duty in the afternoon.

She, however, lamented the general breakdown of discipline in the wider society and said what goes on in the school was a microcosm of the wider society.

Wilson said there were several positives at the school, which the school would be seeking to highlight in the near future.

-gilchristc@jamaicaobserver.com