OCHO RIOS, St Ann — Buoyed by the success Operation Leviticus has been having in restoring public order to Ocho Rios, the St Ann police plan to focus on Brown’s Town next.

“We want to set up an operation in Brown’s Town to see how vendors operate in the space so we can send undercover cops to see how best we can clamp down on criminals,” said acting head of the St Ann police Superintendent David White.

He was providing an update during Thursday’s monthly meeting of the St Ann Municipal Corporation.

Operation Leviticus was launched on August 12 and focuses on restoring law and order in the parish. Its effectiveness will be assessed after four weeks and the plan is to eventually make the initiative part of the long-term approach to crime fighting. It is already being lauded by councillor for the Ocho Rios Division Michael Belnavis (Jamaica Labour Party) who has long appealed for the streets of the resort town to be rid of vendors.

“In relation to the vending and windshield wipers… these guys are not from the area. They come in from wherever — and that is not an occupation. We paid a lot of money to renovate the market so they can stay in there and that way it’s easier for the police to monitor what’s happening in the town,” Belnavis said during Thursday’s meeting.

“I respect the move and I trust that this will work. I remember a time when there were no vendors on the streets of Ocho Rios and that’s where we want to get back,” he added.

Superintendent White agreed with the councillor’s assessment of the negative impact of street vending.

“We have looked at most of the town centres where public order is a problem and what we have to understand is that, where public order is a problem, criminals will harbour. What we try to do in Operation Leviticus is to push the operation heavily to rid the towns of excess vendors etc, because if there is a congested township where police can’t move in and out, persons will have the chance to do just about anything,” he said.

“Not all vendors that come into St Ann are from the area so they care less how they operate in the space. Especially in townships, most times we catch a few criminals and we have been reaping some success in terms of monitoring their movements in and out of the parish in recent weeks,” he added.

The lawman said the ongoing operation will zoom in on specific targets who are now under the police radar. Their next move is to focus on Brown’s Town as they further rid the parish of migrant criminals who have been wreaking havoc in the town, he said.

Since the start of the year St Ann has recorded 44 murders, seven more than the corresponding period last year.