FALMOUTH, Trelawny — The Trelawny police are reporting a 23 per cent reduction in major crimes across the parish since the start of this year, when compared to the corresponding period last year.

During his presentation at the recent monthly meeting of the Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC), head of the Trelawny Police Division Superintendent Carlos Russell said some 82 major crimes were recorded by the Trelawny Police since 2021, in comparison to the 106 over the corresponding period in 2020.

The senior cop also shared that, so far this year, the Trelawny Police Division has recorded 12 murders which is six fewer than the 18 recorded over the same period last year. At the time, police data indicated that at 12, Trelawny tallied the lowest number of murders across the 19 police divisions, which was one shy of the 13 reported in Portland, which is traditionally the parish to record the least number of murders.

“Since the start of the year we have seen 82 serious crimes, compared to the 106 in the previous year, which is 24 less or 23 per cent less than the corresponding period last year,” Superintendent Russell revealed.

He added: “As it relates to shootings, we are now at 12, compared to 11 last year; robberies, eight compared to six; rapes, 10 compared to 18; aggravated assault, 17 compared to 19; break-ins, 20 compared to 28; and three larcenies compared to six.”

The police in Trelawny have also recovered 16 illegal guns and 173 rounds of ammunition so far this year.

And as the country seeks to maintain a tight rein on the spread of the novel coronavirus, Superintendent Ricketts noted that the police continue to enforce the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA). Last month some 84 individuals were booked for breaches of the DRMA, the senior cop revealed.

“We continue to enforce the DRMA. For the month of September we would have seen where we would have prosecuted 84 persons for breaches of the Disaster Risk Management Act. We continue to see persons still trying to keep parties and to disobey the procedures but we continue our fight as it relates to that,” he stated.

But he noted that September saw a slight spike in major crimes over the month of August.There were 11 serious crimes in September which were four more than the seven in August. Last month’s major crimes included two murders, one shooting, two cases of rape, two aggravated assaults and four break-ins.

The senior cop, however, maintains that his team remains unrelenting in their effort to cauterise crime in the parish.

“We continue to target violence influencers, those persons who have a history [of being involved with] major crimes before; we continue to monitor and target persons who are habitual breakers across the division; we are maintaining division-wide consistency in our road policing activities through robust vehicular check points or stop and search. We continue to monitor the spaces that we deem are hot spots; these are areas that are occupied by gangs or other violent persons,” Superintendent Russell said.

“We also have consistent engagements of our citizens through our weekly walk-throughs partnering with our local justices of the peace as also our elected representatives. And also our police youth club initiatives.”

Chairman of the TMC Councillor C Junior Gager lauded the head of the Trelawny Police Division and his team for providing yeomen service across the parish.

“…I would also like to say to our superintendent of police, you have been doing a very good job all over the parish, but I can also see where you have stepped up activities in the Warsop area,” expressed Gager, who is the Jamaica Labour Party’s councillor for the Warsop Division, which is situated in the Trelawny Southern constituency.

“I want to say thank you, because your presence is being felt. So I just want to say thank you for doing a very good job.”

Superintendent Russell was transferred from the neighbouring parish of St Ann to take over the leadership of the Trelawny Police Division from Superintendent Kirk Ricketts in January. At that time, he vowed to, with some adjustments, perpetuate the outstanding leadership of Ricketts, who moved on to take charge of the tough St Andrew South Division.

“I want to continue the good work that Mr Ricketts has been doing. Mr Ricketts has been doing a wonderful job in the parish and I just want to continue that. So we will be continuing the systems that he had in place; we will tweak here and there to make things better. But, I see that most of the things, that they have are working,” he stated.

Last year, the parish recorded 21 murders, the majority of which reportedly stemmed from domestic disputes.

“I know that [domestic violence] has been a problem for Trelawny for quite some time. Domestic violence and domestic disputes have led to numerous incidents in the parish over the years. So, it has to be a priority. And so, dealing with domestic disputes, threats, and those things are the main focus,” Superintendent Russell told the Jamaica Observer West during a telephone interview then.