KINGSTON, Jamaica— Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Michael Phipps, who is in charge of the Area 4 police division, has welcomed the imposition of a state of public emergency (SOE) in four divisions in the region.

The measure, he says, will “treat effectively with hotspot areas known for gang warfare which pose public safety risk to law abiding citizens who have to traverse these areas”.

The SOE was declared in response to a whopping 175 per cent increase in the number of reported murders in the division.

READ: State of Public Emergency declared in four more police divisions

Statistics have indicated that 22 murders have been reported across the division since the start of the year, 14 more than the corresponding period last year. There has been a reported 1,000 per cent increase in the murders in St Andrew South when compared to the corresponding period last year.

“The police Area 4 has welcomed the imposition of the state of public emergency across the divisions Kingston Western, St Andrew Central and St Andrew South. This has come against the background of a significant increase in violent criminal activities, mostly associated with gangs across the division, especially the St Andrew South division,” ACP Phipps told Observer Online.

Area 4 comprises divisions in the Corporate Area, including St Andrew South and Central, and Kingston Western, Central and Eastern.

Phipps said  the police would be decisive in its bid to disrupt criminal networks in response to the significant uptick in reported murders across the division since the start of the year.

“We will be carrying out robust operational activities across the divisions as we seek to restore stability and public order,” Phipps said, promising that the cops would “be decisive in protecting ourselves from all threats”.