WESTMORELAND, Jamaica – A peace march is now underway at Independence Park in Westmoreland.

The march is an initiative of the Westmoreland Neighbourhood Watch.

In a Jamaica Observer article last Thursday, chairman of the Westmoreland Neighbourhood Watch Council Lyndon Johnson shared that he was fed up with the increase in crime and violence in the parish.

“We are the neighbourhood watch group for Westmoreland and we see what is really going on with the crime and violence and so we are trying to put our best foot forward, along with the police, and see how best we can help,” he shared.

READ: ‘FED UP’! Westmoreland stakeholders to march for peace amid increase in murders

Those present include Bishop O’Neil Russell, president of the Cooke Street Citizen Association; Custos of Westmoreland Reverend Canon Hartley Perrin, members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, and Restorative Justice.

Up to Friday, October 14 this year, the Westmoreland Police Division recorded some 123 murders which were 31 or 33.7 per cent more than the 92 over the corresponding period in 2021.

– Kimberley Peddie