“We intend to pursue these cockroaches.”

That was the vow from Superintendent of Police Vernon Ellis yesterday, as he disclosed that GCity and Walthamese gangs are high on his radar.

Superintendent Ellis, who was speaking at yesterday’s St James Municipal Corporation meeting, described gang behaviour as akin to the behaviour of cockroaches.

“Two weeks ago, some gang members came out in some areas, and I would want to say they misbehaved…based on what transpired, we chipped into a surge mode and we intend to pursue these cockroaches, because that is what they are. They tend to come about when they are not needed, and after they do what they want to do, they run back into their cracks and tend to disappear.

“The plans afoot will be aimed at targeting these members of the Bad Breed Gang – the GCity and the Walthamese [gang]. I remember some three years ago, Barrett Town was under siege by a gang, and there was a wholesale operation which led to six of them not being with us. With the joint approach of the security forces, we intend to do everything to keep the city of Montego Bay safe, and if it means to do some wholesale fumigation of those cockroaches, then we are gonna do it,” declared Ellis, the commanding officer for the St James police.

As evidence that he means business, the senior cop told the meeting that the police in St James seized 106 firearms since the start of the year.

“I must also say to you that the St James Division has recorded over 106 recoveries of firearms, making it one of our highest totals and doubling the efforts of any other division across the island for the year 2020. The recoveries is just a signal of the trust and confidence and partnership between the citizens and the security forces in the region… the St James [Police] Division is still at a 17-year best, in terms of reduction of murders,” he said.

The police superintendent also talked about plans for the Christmas season, and how his team will keep the city safe.

“The festive season that we are upon now, and for this and any other event, we would come up with a joint plan to secure the space. The intention of the security forces will be to protect life and property, sensitise and promptly notify essential services about major developments relating to crime and disaster for the period, crowd control, and traffic management.

He said, too, that the police intend to prevent and detect crime, and maintain law and order in the city.

“The increased levels of commercial activities in the major towns will see new deployment…we have improved the level of the quick response teams inside of the space, and it is aimed at making the space safer for the period. We have a lot of good citizens and we have a lot of goodwill over the year 2020, and we want to maintain that goodwill with our good citizens,” he said.