MONTEGO BAY, St James — Dr Andre Haughton, the Opposition’s caretaker candidate for St James West Central, has suggested a combination of drone technology and more policing inside the nooks and crannies of Mount Salem, St James, to stem a recent uptick in violence that has residents living in fear.

“It’s very sad. I just saw a lady a while ago with her TV on her head and her daughter with some pans and such, relocating,” Haughton lamented. “We have others who were born and grown here and have been here over 50, 60 years and they are resilient, they are not going anywhere.”

He was speaking with the Jamaica Observer on Monday during a walk-through of the community that has seen two daring daylight murders over the past week.

“The residents are very scared; they are feeling a sense of hopelessness at this time where the crime is concerned,” Haughton added.

He urged the police and members of Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) stationed in the area, as part of a Zone of Special Operations (ZOSO), to do more rigorous patrols.

“We need to take a holistic approach towards policing of the area. So, it’s not just about being on the Mount Salem main road, it’s about being inside the lanes and the crevices and the corners that these young people move through to do what they are doing,” suggested Haughton.

Some residents agreed, with one woman — who opted not to provide her name — calling for a security post to be placed at Campbell’s Lane, where there was a recent murder. She is of the view that the rear sections of the community are being neglected.

“We need a tent like what the soldier them have out front to come in here with police and soldier because round a these areas a back pass. We need to see them round here so too,” she appealed.

One man asked for more frequent patrols.

“If the place was being patrolled then these things could never occur because the man them would be saying, ‘Suppose I move? Remember that police and soldier walking through.’ Them know that them only sit down out there so nothing going to happen,” said the man who spoke on condition of anonymity

Haughton also suggested it was time for a more high-tech approach.

“I think we now have to bring in some amount of technology to assist with the crime fighting — drone technology, especially, in the hot time period to track the movements of these boys,” he said.

Haughton’s visit to the area came on the heels of last Friday’s murder of 31-year-old area resident O’Brien Lawrence who was shot and killed by unknown assailants. The incident occurred about 10:30 am as he walked on the road. According to the police, armed men alighted from a Toyota Axio motor car, shot Lawrence several times, then fled in the vehicle. This happened metres from a ZOSO checkpoint and it came mere days after 52-year-old Green Pond resident Donovan Hayles was shot and killed on Campbell’s Lane. The police took two men into custody and seized two firearms in connection with that shooting.

These latest murders have renewed questions about the effectiveness of ZOSOs in place in Mount Salem, the community where the measure was piloted in 2017. It combines the stationing of security forces in an area with infrastructural upgrades and efforts to upskill residents.

But critics have long asserted that residents tend to become familiar with members of the security forces after a while and the team loses its effectiveness. Haughton repeated these concerns on Monday.

“Because the soldiers are here for so long, people are becoming too familiar with them and they are becoming too familiar with people. Even if they rotate them, they still have communication,” he said.

“They are not fighting the crime how people would want them to fight the crime so the level of aggression that they are using is far less,” he lamented.

Councillor Kerry Thomas (People’s National Party, Mount Salem Division), who was also on the walkthrough on Monday, also spoke of the panic sweeping through the area and sought to reassure residents that they will be doing everything in their power to assist them during this difficult time.

“We will be planning a series of community events to give the people some reassurance in the different streets and lanes with the police, and redouble our efforts with the security forces to find meaningful solutions to what is happening here,” he said.