KINGSTON, Jamaica – Opposition Spokesman on national security Derrick Smith is calling for a “comprehensive and urgent response” to the current crime situation in Clarendon.

The latest incident happened yesterday when one man was shot dead in the parish.

The Opposition spokesman said in a release today that: “The brazen and horrific nature of murders being perpetrated in Clarendon is extremely alarming. In the wake of that horrific quadruple killing in Hayes last Wednesday, there was a gruesome incidence of murder last Saturday in the once peaceful community of Frankfield, and then there was another incident on Tuesday which saw three people in Bucknor being shot, with one of the victims succumbing to injuries sustained.”

He suggested that a 32 per cent increase in murders in the parish since the start of the year is related to an upsurge in gang activity in the parish.

“It is highly likely as well that there is an increasing number of criminals retreating to Clarendon, as we have been seen in recent times where Northern St Catherine is concerned, due to the police’s clampdown on the operations of criminal organisations elsewhere,” the spokesman added.

Smith is also urging the Government to make more resources available to the Clarendon police in a bid to deter crime and effectively pursue criminals wreaking havoc in the parish.  

He said, “Clarendon seems to be under siege. Many residents are cowering in fear and do not feel safe in their communities. This cannot be allowed to continue. The police must ramp up its intelligence capabilities to apprehend the perpetrators of these heinous murders, and at the same time, ensure that criminals, like those engaged in the lottery scam or other forms of organised crime, do not find solace in places like Clarendon when the pressure brought on them elsewhere causes dislocation.”

Criminal elements cannot be allowed to feel emboldened to carry out their acts of terror and mayhem at will, he added.