KINGSTON, Jamaica — A large police operation in Downtown Kingston on Thursday, resulted in several people being detained for weapons offences, police say.

“In the commercial district over the past three to four weeks, going into about six weeks, there have been some stabbing incidents in the general space.  That emanated from interpersonal conflicts with persons who can’t settle their differences over a conversation, and as such, those stabbing incidents have featured six out of 12 murders that we have in the division since the start of the year,” Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Rohan Ritchie explained.

A large number of lawmen and members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) were present on Luke Lane where they were observed detaining several individuals.

“Some 12 persons were arrested and charged for breach of the Offensive Weapons Act, and citizens in that general space expressed a certain level of satisfaction for the effort of the police and the military,” Ritchie said, explaining to Observer Online that the operation was intelligence- driven, but not unusual.

He indicated that it was part of wider efforts to target violence producers and maintain public order in the Kingston Central Police Division.

While not all the killings had been carried out in the downtown district, police maintained a presence in the shopping area as well.

“Subsequently there was a public safety enforcement drive in the commercial district of downtown Kingston. It focused on Haywood Street, and some other sections of the business district. And this was with the intention to reassure citizens, as you know it is the final week of preparation to back to school,” Ritchie said.

On nearby Love Lane, residents had gathered in the street, claiming that members of the JDF  in the operation, had been too rough with the people they were taking into custody.

“Unuh come fi search, mi nuh believe sey unh must come beat up somebody a dem yaad,” one woman said.

Richie indicated that several persons of interest had been held in the operation and maintained that there had been very little complaints from residents and shoppers in the Downtown Kingston area.

The Kingston Central Division has recorded 12 murders so far this year, in comparison to 19 last year, a 37 per cent reduction, as well as seven shootings this year, in comparison to 13 over the same period last year, a reduction of 46 per cent.