Gangsters death toll rises

A senior lecturer in the Department of Government at the University of the West Indies says unless the authorities dismantle gangs across Jamaica, the killing of gang leaders locally in and of itself has done little to cripple the crime wave  impacting the island.

Dr. Christopher Charles, senior lecturer in political psychology, said that though gang leaders are being cut down, the majority of the gangs remain intact and are still functioning.

"In the Independence period, since 1962 we have always killed a few gangsters. Some 70 per cent of the murders in the country are committed by gangs. We have 13 or 14 hotspots and we have two state of public emergency and two ZOSO...So really and truly, a few gangsters being killed is a small dent in the process. You can’t just kill members you have to dismantle the criminal organisation”.

St James' most wanted man Nico Samuels, otherwise called  Bowza was shot dead on Saturday by police during a fierce fire fight in the upscale community of Hatfield, Ironshore in the parish.
Samuels is a former member of the dismantled “Ski Mask gang”.

A little over a week ago, another gang leader Ryan ‘Ratty’ Peterkin, head of the Ratty gang was shot and killed by members of the security forces.

Gangsters such as Ruxie, Ditty and Waldie have all met fatal ends in recent times.

But despite the death of these persons, Charles is not convinced it will have any major impact on the crime figures.

“They remove Zeeks and spanglers still deh bout. They remove Dudus and presidential click still deh bout, but there is infighting for control. There are several groups fighting for power. So every time you kill gang leaders and don’t dismantle the gangs, the members fight for power and that creates further killing because they go after the rivals and their families,”Charles told THE STAR.

"Nothing is happening now in relation to gang members that have not happened before. You kill a gang member or the leader and the gang is still operational. Of course, losing members will slow dem down and reduce their capacity to unleash violence but once you have not destroyed the criminal organisation, dismantle the gang, killing one or two of its members, these are small victories, very small.”