MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Against the backdrop of an increase in reported cases of domestic violence and murders stemming from it, the police are suggesting that a special intervention centre is needed here.

Manchester has been haunted by domestic violence cases down the years, due to the severity of crimes linked to it.

Territorial officer for Manchester, Deputy Superintendent Collin Johnson said there were three domestic violence-related murders in the parish last year. However, so far this year, Manchester has recorded five domestic-related murders.

“Manchester since the start of the year, we have seen 23 murders in comparison with 22 for the corresponding period last year. Of the 23 murders recorded, five emanated from domestic violence and the most recent is one of our colleagues, Constable Damien Blair, who was murdered a few weeks ago,” DSP Johnson said at a domestic violence forum at the Mandeville Baptist Church last week.

“Domestic violence is a serious issue across the country. It impacts family, church, and the wider community… it has psychological, emotional effects and sexual abuse,” he added.

Constable Blair was allegedly killed by his wife, Kacey-Ann Blair, 33, at the couple’s home in Somerset, Manchester, on May 29.

A police report said about 6:25 pm on May 29, Blair was reportedly shot inside the family home, allegedly by his wife. According to the police, Blair ran from the house but collapsed at his gate, where further wounds were reportedly inflicted with a hammer.

The Jamaica Observer was told that Blair was found on a dirt road at his gateway, clad in only his underwear. Police said his wife was found inside the house with a laceration to her wrist. It was reported that she had barricaded herself inside a section of the house. Constable Blair was pronounced dead at hospital, while his wife was admitted in stable condition before handed being released into police custody.

Police confirmed that investigators found the licensed pistol belonging to Blair and evidence of items used during the dispute, including two hammers and a machete, at the couple’s house.

Relatives, neighbours, and colleagues of Blair said the couple had a stormy relationship, which coloured intense discussions about the chilling event in recent weeks.

Antonia Sutherland, Blair’s sister, in an interview on May 30 claimed that the couple was embroiled in disputes for several years during their 13-year relationship, including eight years of marriage.

On March 10 an 11-year-old boy and his five-year-old cousin were left traumatised after witnessing his mother Shadae Brown, 28, being stabbed repeatedly with three knives allegedly by her spouse, Kevon Leslie, 29, despite the child’s cries for mercy in Newport, Manchester.

On March 2 Newport resident Ricardo Williams, 21, was fatally stabbed, allegedly by a relative of his friend, over a pair of shoes during an argument in Newport.

On January 19 United Kingdom resident Michael Brown, 48, was gunned down in Mike Town where police theorised an alleged family dispute over land and houses was the motive. He was shot and killed about 12:20 am while in bed, four days after laying his 74-year-old mother to rest. His relative Lemone Brown, 38, was charged with murder.

On January 3 a Mandeville couple was found dead in a suspected case of murder-suicide. Keith and Stephanie Ellis (both in their 40s) were found dead at their home on Bonnitto Crescent in Mandeville. The wife, a bank employee, was found with a wound to her forehead inside the house, and the husband, otherwise called Ricky, a former taxi operator, was found hanging from a scaffold at the back of the property. A police source said a crowbar, believed to be the murder weapon, was found at the scene.

Relatives told the Sunday Observer that the couple was going through a divorce.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Jacqueline Dillon, head of the response team manning domestic violence intervention centres (DVICs) islandwide, said that in prior years Manchester’s reported cases of domestic violence were lower.

“In 2018 we had one domestic violence intervention centre located in Kingston. By 2020 we had four — two in St Thomas and one in St Andrew in 2021 — under the spotlight initiative programme by the European Union and the United Nation Development programme,” she said in addressing last week’s forum.

“The initiative assisted us in having another six domestic violence intervention centres, and those centres were added where the reported number of domestic violence cases were very high. Unfortunately Manchester does not have a domestic violence intervention centre because, at the time when we were talking about domestic violence and what it is that we needed to do, Manchester’s reported incidents were not many,” she added.

DSP Dillon explained that reported cases had increased.

“So you had like for 2020 – 2021 probably 100 cases but by 2022 it ballooned to almost 600 cases, and those are the reported ones because there are others that are not reported. The JCF domestic violence intervention centre, really what it does is create safe spaces for victims; we also intervene where the perpetrators are concerned,” she said.

“Just last year alone we had over 2,000 children in households being impacted directly or indirectly. We had over 2,000 men who were victims of domestic violence, who reported incidents. We have 6,000 women who were the major ones who reported incidents of domestic violence,” Dillon added.

She warned that victims of domestic violence and those who know of cases should seek the necessary help and make reports before it is too late.

“Domestic violence happens to anybody — it has no gender, it has no class. It means that as a society you have a responsibility to ensure that in every instance where you become aware of domestic violence incidents within communities, that you speak out,” she said.

“Oftentimes we speak out after people die or are seriously injured. You will hear the comments that they had known about it before, they had information about it before, but nobody tried to help. I am saying it on this platform and I am very passionate about it because I believe that the communities, we have a responsibility to each other to ensure that what we know of something, especially where violence is concerned, that we seek help for people who are unable to help themselves,” added Dillon.

Inspector Dwight Thompson of the Police Area 5 pointed to the impact of domestic violence.

“Men, women, children and the elderly are affected by domestic violence… Men are being abused, and when they come they feel ashamed because they were kicked, boxed, slapped and beaten by their women; and also women came in being abused by intimate partners [and] family members. This is a serious situation. We have recommended different places for intervention, counselling, and put them in public safe houses,” he explained.

“Seek help, seek counselling before it gets chronic or someone dies. Seek that help before it is too late,” he implored.