MANCHESTER, Jamaica — The head of the Manchester police has defended the continued imposition of curfews and is encouraging public figures who are reportedly organising demonstrations against the security measures to act rationally.

The latest curfew was imposed on Wednesday at 6:40 pm and is expected to end on Friday at 6:40 pm. Among the areas under curfew are Porus, Trinity, Hampton and Redberry.

Deputy Superintendent Carey Duncan in an audio message said the police are aware of prominent individuals fighting against the curfews.

“We have intelligence suggesting that there are some persons who are of influence, public figures within certain areas in Manchester, and that they are instigating demonstrations around these curfews. I just want to say these are your areas, areas that you have interest in and I encourage you to look at what was happening prior to these curfews and look at the level of peace and tranquil that the communities are now experiencing,” he said on Wednesday.

“We are saying that as long as we feel that the areas have returned to some level of normalcy then we have no interest in continuing these curfews. However, we won’t let up on our operational activities within these spaces,” he added.

On Sunday, Councillor Claudia Morant-Baker (Jamaica Labour Party, Porus Division) reiterated her concern that the once thriving small town of Porus has become a ghost for two reasons — curfews and a highway bypassing it.

Baker has taken issue with the continued imposition of curfews in the Porus area and has called for a town hall meeting with the Manchester police, citizens and business owners.

READ: ‘Porus is dying’: Councillor commends police, but says curfews stifling economic activity

File photo of police and soldiers in Porus and its environs on an operation.

The division recorded a 19 per cent decrease in major crimes last year when compared to 2023, but the parish recorded 50 murders up from 44 the previous year.

“Coming off 2024 where we saw some major successes within the Manchester division particularly within the area of crime reduction. We saw some 18 per cent reduction in our major crimes. Unfortunately, however, we saw an uptick in our murders. This year our strategy will be placed primarily on murder reduction,” said Duncan.

He listed the division’s hotspots which are being closely monitored by the police.

“Some [areas] were impacted more than [others], particularly in the Porus space, Landsettlement, Comfort, May Day, Knockpatrick areas, and based on our analysis we realise that we must make some special efforts in these areas in order to reduce the murders going forward for this year,” he said.

“I just want to say to the persons in Manchester that it is not our wish at any point to restrict the movement of any member of the parish. However, where we find that we have some recalcitrance in some areas who are bent on disobeying law and order and to create mayhem and anarchy in these spaces then we have to employ some special measures in order to arrest these incidents,” he added.

He is encouraging the public to support the police and the security measures imposed.

“One of the tools available to us are curfews and so we as a team look at these areas strategically, analytically to ensure that what we are doing is the right thing. I just want to say to the persons who are opposed to these curfews look at what was happening before in these areas and look at what is happening now and ask yourselves, is it that we really want to risk losing more lives just to have parties,” he said.