POLICE will be going after contract killers who have been approaching people in conflict and offering to take a life for as little as $15,000.

“This is something we are seeing more and more of. We now have more young men with access to high-powered weapons and ill-gotten gains from scamming. They are more than willing to kill people. Citizens who have been in conflict have been immediately approached by some of these people offering their services,” Police Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson told a press conference Tuesday.

“In some communities, as quickly as you and your family members have an argument about ‘dead lef’ you can expect someone to approach you and offer to deal with a thing for you,“ said Anderson.

Targeting contract killers and the people who hire them will become a big part of the murder reduction strategy of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), the commissioner said, as part of a strategy to achieve a drop in murders by the end of June.

From January 1 to June 6, the police recorded 634 murders, which is 32 more than the corresponding period in 2021.

It is these contract killings, the police chief said, that have been pushing up the the country’s murder toll. In addition, he pointed to a an increase in interpersonal conflicts resulting in murders.

“In places like St Mary, murder is up. When we examine the attribution we are seeing a significant number of interpersonal conflicts representing over 50 per cent of all murders. Some of those conflicts involve a quarrel over a parking space that ended up in a murder,” the commissioner said.

Anderson is, however, optimistic that there will be a drop in the number of murders.

“We expect that we will be seeing a gradual downward trend and if this continues we should finish this quarter, at the end of June, somewhat lower than we are now with respect to last year,” he said.

In the meantime, Anderson said that in the first seven days of June police seized 27 firearms. Between January 1 and May 31 a total of 320 illegal firearms were also removed from the streets, which accounts for six more guns seized than the corresponding period last year. They also seized 6,380 rounds of ammunition during that period, compared to 4,483 seized for the corresponding period in 2021.

Anderson also said police foiled numerous murders and managed to intercept a number of armed gunmen during the commission of crimes. He also said that when they managed to elude the lawmen increased intelligence and investigative capabilities of the force allowed them to quickly identify and pursue these criminals.

Since the start of the year 401 people have been arrested and charged with breaches of the Firearms Act.

“Our anti-gang strategy is at the core of our response to murders as 76 per cent of murders are gang-related. Scamming continues to be a significant driver of violence in the country. Even as we strengthen our response locally, we continue to collaborate with our international partners on this and other transnational crimes, including money laundering and drug trafficking.

“In recent weeks we have seen a number of extradition requests for scammers and persons associated with the illicit drug trade, money laundering, and sex crimes. Six people have been arrested in relation to recent requests from the United States and two people have been returned from the United States on our request,” said the commissioner.