KINGSTON, Jamaica — The police have set up a help desk in the reception area of the Spanish Town Police Station to assist members of the public, whose family members have been taken into police custody during the state of public emergency in the St Catherine North Division.

According to the police’s Corporate Communications Unit (CCU), the facility was established to prevent the influx of individuals at the Jamaica Police Academy and Tamarind Farm Prison where processing of detainees are done.

Having recorded 48 murders since the start of 2018 in the police division, which included Spanish Town, the government on Sunday insisted that the declaration of a state of public emergency in the area was justified.

The security forces said at a press briefing at Jamaica House, that the operation will primarily focus on the notorious Klansman gang, which operates primarily out of the parish capital Spanish Town, and which has been involved in a violent internal conflict which has led to numerous murders over the few years.

Ninety-four people have since been detained, including Andre Bryan, the reputed leader of one faction of the split Klansman Gang in Spanish Town, his mother and other members of his family. Most of the detainees have since been released.

Bryan is expected to face the court this week.

The police also reported that the Klansman Gang is raking in $1.8 million weekly from extorting mainly business owners and transport operators.