WATCH: Westmoreland police vow to rid parish of criminal elements; several alleged gang members arrested under new SOE
WESTMORELAND, Jamaica —Deputy Superintendent of police (DSP) in charge of operations in the Westmoreland Police Division, Adrian Hamilton, says the police in the division remain relentless in their pursuit of criminal elements as they seek to rid the parish of crime.
A series of operations were conducted across the parish, which is under a state of public emergency (SOE), on Friday afternoon.
The SOE, which commenced at 12:01 am on Thursday, will remain in effect for an initial period of 14 days.
READ: SOEs declared for St James, Westmoreland
Speaking with the media on Friday, DSP Hamilton said since the SOE was intitiated on Thursday, a number of individuals said to be involved in criminal activities have been apprehended.
“This afternoon, we are here conducting a series of operations — targeted cordon and search in an effort to apprehend some persons who we know have been involved in the recent uptick of violence right across the parish,” Hamilton said. “We have arrested some persons for murder in relation to recent activities and recent crimes that have been committed and we continue to pursue others. We are confident that we are going to bring some amount of respite for communities within the Westmoreland police divison.”
DSP Hamilton noted that there has been a spread of ciminal.activities across the division in the last week, especially in the Savanna-la-Mar area.
“While we have seen a spread across the division in terms of serious crimes, in the last week leading into this week, it has spread wide across the parish. However, we have been mostly focusing on conflict with its origin in the Savanna-la-Mar space and between a particular gang that is now fragmented,” he stated.
Hamilton said since the SOE was implemented, three people believed to be major players in the criminal world, have been taken into custody.
“We have about 22 persons of the particular gang that we mentioned that we are currently pursuing. Some have been arrested since the SOE. Three significant persons in that gang were picked up during this afternoon’s operations and we are going to use all the tools available to us to make sure these persons face the tribunal and have their day in court,” he said. “We continue with this push, police personnel are ready and raring to go and we will not stop.”
