Peter Phillips last night said that the Government is spending near US$20 million (almost J$1.3 billion) to upgrade, by this month-end, the police emergency response system as part of a string of measures to clamp down on rising crime, particularly in Western Jamaica.

At the same time, Phillips, the national security minister, made it clear that there was no need for a new crime plan. The battle to defeat criminality, he said, “will require sustained effort and regular adaptation, but we are staying the course”.

With more than 120 murders recorded since the beginning of the year, Phillips said the Government’s response would be based on the accelerated implementation of its programme to reform the Jamaica Constabulary Force and those measures which brought the country success last year.

“The upsurge in murders so far this year contrasts with the reduction we achieved in 2006, where we recorded a 20 per cent decline in the country as a whole and a 31 per cent decrease in the Kingston Metropolitan Region,” Phillips said in a national address broadcast on radio and television.

“The trend established in 2006 in the Kingston Metropolitan Area has been maintained so far this year, and murders in this area continue to decline,” said Phillips. “However, in sharp contrast to the trend in the capital city, there has been a worrying increase in the number of murders reported in rural areas, including particularly in St James, Westmoreland, St Ann and St Thomas.”

Phillips said that the viciousness of the most recent homicides in Montego Bay confirms the ruthlessness of the criminals that the country is up against. He assured the nation that the authorities have begun to respond, and said that as the full dimensions of the response unfold, the situation will be brought under control and the entire area stabilised.

“This threat to the well-being of the Jamaican people and this most vital sector of the economy will not be allowed to prevail,” he said.

In recent weeks, St James has experienced a slew of murders, the most recent committed last Thursday when gunmen shot dead five men in Flower Hill and beheaded one of the victims after.

The killings brought to 25 the number of murders committed in the parish up to that time since the start of the year.

Last night, Phillips said the measures being implemented by the Government to stem the crime wave include concentrated attention to hot spots of violence and crime, with an emphasis on community policing, as well as a higher level of transparency and accountability in the police force through the newly-established Civilian Oversight Authority.

He said, too, that the Government would seek to expand social intervention programmes, which have been “resoundingly successful” in empowering communities and reducing crime.

He blamed the increase in crime in rural areas on what he referred to as the “displacement effect”.

“As we apply pressure in the Corporate Area, some criminals have fled to these parishes to escape the heat,” he explained. “The truth is, the criminals are constantly adjusting their strategies and tactics.”

Among the measures to deal with the bloodletting in the West were:

. Joint JDF/JCF operations have been initiated with the aim of ensuring immediate control of crime and the suppression of criminal activities in targeted communities.

. Simultaneously, hot-spot policing techniques are being introduced to the affected areas.

. Operation Kingfish has established a permanent presence in Western Jamaica as a base for expanding its operation in that part of the country.

. Expansion of the Major Investigation Taskforce to include operations in Western Jamaica

. Introduction of legislation before the end of this parliamentary year to allow DNA evidence to be collected from accused persons on the same basis as fingerprints.

. Deployment of marine vessels across the island and establishment of three permanent marine police bases on the South Coast to deal more effectively with the inflow of illegal guns. These will be located in Bowden, St Thomas; the Portland Bight area of Clarendon; and Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland.

. Enactment of the Proceeds of Crime Act before February, which will empower the state to seize the assets and ill-gotten gains of criminals.

. Introduction of legislation to Parliament before the end of the parliamentary year to provide for stiffer penalties for people trading in, and distributing illegal firearms.

. Submission of a bill to Parliament to establish a National Investigative Authority which will directly tackle the investigation of corruption in all areas of public life.

. Major recruitment drive to increase the level and capacity of the Jamaica Constabulary Force.