TUCKER, ST James — An upsurge in crime in this community since the start of this year pushed residents and a number of stakeholders to stage a peace march in the area on Sunday.

Dubbed the ‘Great Walk of Tucker’, residents, led by a marching band with support provided by a joint military and police team, sang a number of gospel songs and prayed as they walked through the community.

In January, two men were cut down in a hail of bullets during an attack by gunmen at a pub in the community, while a teenager was shot and injured in that incident. Days later the community came under siege as men armed fired indiscriminately in the space while torching a number of houses.

In addition, two men were trailed into the nearby Granville community where they were shot and killed, allegedly at the hands of men from Tucker. It has been acknowledged that gangs are feuding in the community which has led to the rise in violence in the space.

The Tucker Community Development Committee (CDC) organised Sunday’s march and according to Chardonnae Parkins, president of the group, peace is the desired outcome.

“It’s a cry, an outcry, we want peace, we want our community back. We want to be able to walk the streets in peace. We want to be able to bond as we usually do, we want life to go back to the way it was when it was happy and joyful,” Parkins told the Jamaica Observer during the event.

“It’s to spread unity, love, peace and happiness and to just bring back our community to what it used to be, a place of love and joy,” added Parkins who said the march was influenced by what this month also signifies.

“We did it during this period because this is Peace Month and we recently had Peace Day and everything just fell in line. The community wants to go back to a time when things were better,” declared Parkins.

There was an outpouring of support as different stakeholder groups came out to lend their voices to the initiative. Churches, Restorative Justice, PALS and the Lay Magistrates Association were some of the groups whose members joined with the residents in the peace march.

Parkins said the move was also to get more stakeholder engagement in the troubled community.

“The main purpose of the march was to galvanise all stakeholders that are present here. It is to bring everybody together so we can make a collective effort in combating the crime within this community,” she stated.

The St James Lay Magistrates Association was among the organisations represented through Pastor Paul Samuel King, chairman for Zone One and a resident of Tucker.

King is the only justice of the peace (JP) in Tucker and he is upset because the crime and violence has placed the community in a negative light.

“I felt bad because of how we have made the news, so I feel really bad,” he shared, insisting that the community is better than this.

According to King, during his time as a JP he has assisted with various initiatives to help the community and he wants to see peace and for residents to live together as one.

“Something has gone bad in the community and now let us get back together where there is peace in our community and we can live together as brothers and sisters,” said King.

There was also support from the political directorate with Councillor Kerry Thomas (People’s National Party, Mount Salem Division) on hand to march with the residents.

Thomas told the Observer that he was pleased with what he saw on Sunday.

“It is absolutely a wonderful feeling, it’s absolutely what we need not just here in Tucker, but throughout St James,” said Thomas as he implored the residents not to allow their community to be taken over by those responsible for crime and violence given that they are the minority.

“We believe that we cannot allow the one per cent within our community hold the other 99 per cent at ransom. We believe that we cannot allow the one per cent to make 99 per cent of a community live in fear because of their ill doings,” Thomas told the gathering.

The security forces are maintaining a strong security presence in the community and there has been a sense of calm as residents try to make best of the situation.

It is now hoped that with this march, a difference will be made with the perpetrators of these acts.

“I honestly hope that those who are within earshot, by any chance, can look within themselves and realise that the majority really want our community back,” Parkins declared.