IT was as much the comment by Superintendent Kenneth Wade as the death of Donovan ‘Bulbie’ Bennett that put the People’s National Party on the defensive about criminals that claim to act in the name of politicians and their parties.

The PNP does not acknowledge a connection to Bennett or his deadly Klansman gang, and loudly called last week for the police to provide the evidence that elected officials of the party are so connected.

Professor Bernard Headley meantime, has put back on the table, the idea of a truth and reconciliation commission, to expose the connections between politicians and criminals as the precursor to a long-called for purge.

DONOVAN ‘Bulbie’ Bennett, 41, first came to police notice in 1993, and since then the cops have mapped his criminal career that began with bloody murders, for turf and politics, later evolving into a multi-million dollar network built on extortion and contracts.

He truly got their attention after the murder of Derrick ‘Puppy String’ Eccleston, who was then the don of De la Vega City, Spanish Town.

“Bennett quickly asserted himself among his peers in the criminal group based in De la Vega City,” said a police sheet on the notorious gangster, who was killed Sunday in the hills of Clarendon.

By May 12, 1995, a Friday, Bennett had wrestled leadership from ‘Puppy String’.

“This was achieved by brutally killing Eccleston,” said the police overview.

“Andrew Bennett (no relation) and Owen McLeish, two of Bulbie’s accomplices in the above-mentioned killing, were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. However, Bennett eluded the security forces for over a decade.”

He was accommodated, in the early years, in the St John’s Road area by Nathaniel ‘Nathan’ McDonald, who was the leader of St John’s Road.

Shortly afterwards, Bennett assumed leadership of that area based on his propensity to use violence to meet his objectives.

This met with little or no resistance from factional leaders who, the police said, had the same political beliefs as Bennett.

“After Bennett’s rise to the leadership of the De la Vega City area, the group was soon organised and the moniker ‘Klansman Massive’ was adopted by them. Through his ruthless leadership style, Bennett was able to orchestrate gang and political violence, extortion rackets and the battle for turf with the ‘One Order’ gang. This was done with a view to establish himself as the No 1 Don in Spanish Town.”

“When power was achieved, it was maintained by a number of enforcers, some of whom were executed when they refused to obey instructions given by Bennett. This is precisely what accounted for the killing and disappearance of four members of the ‘Renegade’ gang who had defected from Bennett’s gang.” Over the past decade, there have been several such atrocities.

Bennett’s domain stretched across several communities in Spanish Town, with De la Vega City, remaining his headquarters, and also extended into Clarendon (see graph). He was killed in his seven-bedroom mansion at Rock River, but the police believe he had many more houses in the names of relatives and associates.

Assistant Commissioner Glenmore Hinds, Task Force Commander of Operation Kingfish, which was set up in October 2004 to dismantle organised criminal gangs, said Bennett maintained ruthless control of his kingdom and his subjects, orchestrating several murders.

The Klansman network was so intricate that orders were handed down to trusted members of the gang who would then hand these orders to lieutenants and soldiers.

“As Bennett and the Klansman Gang grew stronger and stronger, so did the trail of bodies, blood, broken lives in communities in which he operated…”

Hinds described the Klansman as a highly organised and sophisticated gang led by Bennett whose rule was one of terror.

“Any and every one was a potential enemy – rival gang members, persons who refused to carry out his dictates … persons who supported a different political party and, of course, rival business interests.

Bennett systematically sought to eliminate any threat, real or perceived, through his position and his multi-million dollar criminal empire. That was the nature of the man … smart, skillful, strong and ruthless, a man not afraid to kill, a man who would take any decision to preserve his status as ‘one don’.”

Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas had special commendation for members of Kingfish, the Special Anti-Crime Task Force, the Jamaica Defence Force and others who participated in the Bennett operation, as well as those who had worked to bring law and order to the streets of Spanish Town in the wake of Bennett’s death.

He said the resources of the police had been stretched thin over 22 “hot spots” ranging from Dunkirk in East Kingston to Spanish Town and many of its adjoining communities.

“As long as I am Commissioner of Police, no criminal can take comfort in the fact that they are safe because they are domiciled or operate in a particular area or have protection from so-called ‘special people’,” said Thomas, ostensibly referring to elected politicians whom his officer Superintendent Kenneth Wade had boldly declared, last week, were facilitating the criminals.

“They are not safe, they are not untouchables … and this they must understand,” said Thomas.