MONTEGO BAY, St James Commissionerof Police Dr Carl Williams has sent a strong warning to people who are bent on committing murders in St James, emphasising that their chances of getting away with these crimes are slim, as they will end up on the radar of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

“The eyes of the JCF are upon you! You will not get away with your crimes and the more you kill, the more you shoot, the more you maim, the greater your chances are of being caught,” Dr Williams said, while cautioning that that the investigative capabilities of the JCF are now significantly boosted.

He was speaking at a town hall meeting held by National Security Minister Robert Montague at the Montego Bay Cultural Centre in St James yesterday.

“If anyone within earshot, whether directly or through media, if anyone is hearing me now and is planning to commit crime, especially violent crimes and murder, it is not clever, it is not a clever thing to do. So desist, because we the police are getting much, much better at investigating crimes and investigating murders. We are committed to finding the killers who are causing grief to the people of St James and Jamaica, generally,” Commissioner Williams said.

The police chief disclosed that last year the St James police arrested and charged 104 killers, the most in the division since the JCF began operations in 1867. Nationally, he said, history was also recorded, as over 700 murderers were arrested and charged.

“Last year we arrested and charged murderers in 104 cases of murders in St James. This is the first time in the history of this parish that we have arrested so many murderers,” said Dr Williams.

“And if you recall the quadruple murder in St James last year, we arrested the persons responsible for it. Also, the killers responsible for killing six people in Hanover towards the end of last year, we have caught up with them as well. The point I am making here is that killers will not get away because we are intolerant of them, and we are more serious about finding them and bringing them to justice, we are not afraid of them!”Commissioner Williams charged, adding that 112 illegal guns were also recovered in St James in 2015.

“So this year we know that we will be doing much better, we will be arresting a greater proportion of persons responsible for murders because we are getting much better at investigating murder cases. We have significantly improved our investigative techniques and we are making greater use of technology in our investigation.”

He also warned of punitive actions to be taken by the police against people who shield killers.

“We have had two years in which we have seen violent crimes escalating. And although major crimes are down in St James this year, violent crimes are up, albeit slightly. We have just about two murders more than we had last year at this time. But at 54 murders since the start of this year, we are already far, far, far too high in terms of our murder count in this parish. And so I’m here with a message for the killers and the gunmen. I am here with a message for all those who support them,” cautioned the police commissioner.

“I am saying to you, the people who support the murderers, that you will be dealt with accordingly.”

The town hall meeting was the third in an islandwide series.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who also addressed the public forum, stressed the importance of public safety.

“Public safety has the element of improving the physical layout, architecture, environment in which people live; and I think Montego Bay, a city of great potential, great enterprise, great energy, must be complemented by an infrastructure that will enable and catalyse that great energy and enterprise that exist in the people of Montego Bay.”

In the meantime, the JCF boss promised, “to get more police officers, more equipment to the communities in St James”.

“In fact, because St James is the most problematic division for the police at this time, we are dealing with St James first. In don’t believe that a station like Anchovy or Coral Gardens should have one service vehicle. Those stations should be able to take care of the problems in their districts without relying too heavily on the divisional headquarters,” Dr Williams told the large gathering.

He added that the majority of policemen who will be graduating from the Police College within another two weeks will take up duties in St James.

“We will also be working to ensure that the CCTV cameras are improved upon,” said the commissioner.