LUCEA, Hanover — The Hanover police last year dismantled three lottery scamming groups, arrested 23 individuals suspected of scamming, and successfully prosecuted nine people.

Progress made by the Proactive Investigation Unit in curbing this type of fraud was one of the examples provided by the police officer in charge of the division, Superintendent Sharon Beeput, as she outlined why 2022 was a “very good year” for her team.

She also pointed to the 63 per cent clear-up rate for serious and violent crimes.

“We have the best overall clearance within Area One,” Beeput told the regular monthly general meeting of the Hanover Municipal Corporation on Thursday.

Area One includes police divisions in Hanover, St James, Westmoreland and Trelawny. Apart from Trelawny, the other three were under states of public emergency (SOEs) during the last round of measures imposed in December. As the Jamaica Observer recently reported, of the three parishes that had SOEs in effect, Hanover was the only one to see a decline in murders. There were 44 recorded in 2022 compared to 46 the year before, a four per cent fall.

Robberies went down by three, when compared to the seven that took place in 2021. The parish also saw an eight per cent decrease in break-ins from the 12 recorded in 2022. There was also a 50 per cent reduction in the number of rapes seen, with nine last year.

Looking at the figures overall, Beeput was satisfied.

“We have done very well and we just have to commend ourselves. Last year was a very good year and we are looking forward to continuing the trend for 2023,” she said.

The new year appears to have got off to a good start for the Hanover police who, at the time of Beeput’s update to the municipal corporation, had seized two illegal firearms. One was confiscated in the Green River/Salt Spring area. The other was in Green Island.

The first incident involved a 9mm pistol along with two magazines containing six similar sized cartridges. A 36-year-old woman, Stacy-Ann Simone Taylor, and her 23-year-old son Garfield Enriquez were arrested in connection with the seizure.

In the second incident, 27-year-old Tevin Passley was apprehended. He is the main suspect in the August 18, 2021 murder of Corporal Delvin Jackson which occurred in the Big Lane area of Central Village in St Catherine. A .38 revolver and three rounds of ammunition were reportedly found in Passley’s Green Island house.