Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson says the Zone of Special Operations (ZOSO) declared in Parade Gardens in Kingston Central last month has directly resulted in a reduction in murders and fear amongst residents in the area.

A series of murders and shootings, stemming mainly from ongoing gang conflict, plagued Parade Gardens and other nearby communities in Kingston Central up to late last year. Many of those conflicts which spilled over into 2022 involved relatives and friends who turned against each other, holding ordinary law-abiding citizens hostage.

During a virtual press conference Tuesday, Anderson told the Jamaica Observer that the current lull in violence was created by the police and the military being present in the area. He highlighted that a lot of assets were deployed to achieve this.

“We are holding things and we will see how it will work when that transitions to the build phase and the long term changes that we expect in the communities. There are alot of assets deployed in that area but beyond that the police have been doing a lot of work with the various groups, with the warring factions to reduce and deal with the longstanding conflicts that resulted in a number of murders.” 

Anderson highlighted that, based on conversation with law abiding citizens who were gripped by fear due to violence, many of the rival gunmen went to the same school or grew up together.

“The people there will tell you that these rivals ate out of the same pot. This mayhem and killing that these people are doing,  these senseless killings, it’s a few people within the communities who have chosen different pathways for their lives,” the commisioner pointed out.

On another note, Anderson said that any cash for guns framework that is being formulated should not only incentivise the seizure of guns but must also lead to the arrest of people who sell, carry and use illegal firearms. The programme he recommended could work in tandem with Crime Stop and other mechanisms that currently exist.

“Ninety-one per cent of people killed this year, were murdered with the gun. Illegal firearms have been and still remain a major problem to us in Jamaica. To deal with the guns issue, there are a number of things that have to come together.

“The programme has to lead directly into a firearms act. The firearms act, based on the amendments I have seen so far, should deal with some of the issues that have been raised by law enforcement for decades and that is how we deal with the person who is in possession of an illegal firearm so that we don’t end up with AK47s on our streets, creating terror just by their presence,” the commissioner said.

He added: “This whole programme has to deal with the guns. As professional law enforcement people, as we target the guns, we also have to target the people who are actually carry those guns and pull those triggers and the people who are pulling the strings and have the financing that allows them to buy the guns at $200,000, $500,000 and $1 million.”