Gangsters, scammers force cops’ hand in St James
ST JAMES, Jamaica — Gangsters and scammers in St James have forced the hand of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, prompting them to split that parish’s police division in order to get ahead of them as crime spirals out of control in the western parish.
A recommendation which has been on the table for some time but was never implemented, Commissioner of Police Dr Carl Williams today disclosed that the St James Police Division will be divided to make two distinct divisions for the parish.
“This was on the table some years ago when we had the problem. The recommendation was that we should divide St James into two distinct divisions.
“We didn’t proceed with that recommendation at the time because the problems were essentially in Montego Bay and if we divided the division we would still have the same number of problems in Montego Bay and the other division would be quiet,” Williams told the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) President’s Forum at the Jamaica Pegasus in Kingston Tuesday.
The police commissioner said that back then, whichever division incorporated Montego Bay would have given law enforcers the same amount and extent of problems.
However, the scammers and gangsters have changed their approach and the police have reacted.
“… Now what we have seen is that the scammers and the gangsters are being displaced from Montego Bay and they are travelling out from Montego Bay into the rural communities of Anchovy, Spring Mount, Maroon Town, Cambridge,” Williams said. “They are setting up their own gangs there and the local youths are falling in line.”
The police commissioner also said they are re-establishing the Lottery Scam Task Force, which was successful in clamping down on the illegal activity in the west.
Anika Richards