SOEs declared in five parishes, St Andrew South

A 14-day state of public emergency (SOE) has been imposed in five parishes and the St Andrew South Police Division in response to high criminal activity. 

The parishes are: St James, Hanover, Westmoreland, St Catherine, and Clarendon, and the St Andrew South Police Division in response to high criminal activity. 

The security measure came into effect at 12:01 am on Friday, December 8.

The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) indicated that between January 1 to December 5, the St Andrew South Police Division produced the second-highest number of murders across all police divisions with a total of 113 homicides.

It was further stated that the St Catherine North Police Division produced the fourth-highest number of murders, with 109 homicides, among all police divisions.

The Clarendon and St Catherine South police divisions recorded the fifth and sixth highest number of murders with 100 and 94 homicides respectively for the same period.

The Clarendon Police Division also had the fourth-highest increase in murders (10%) when compared to the equivalent period in 2022.

For the western parishes, OPM said St James continued to have the highest number of murders across all police divisions with a total of 173 homicides recorded between  January 1 and December 5.

Additionally, Westmoreland with 110 murders is the police division with the third-highest number of homicides over the same period.

Hanover had 67 murders for the same period and was the police division with the highest increase (52.3%) in homicides when compared with the same period in 2022.

In terms of homicides in relation to population (homicides per 100,000 population), St James, Westmoreland, and Hanover have reflected 103.3, 93.4 and 60.7 murders per 100,000, respectively at the end of 2022.

Since the start of 2023, murders per 100,000 inhabitants for St James, Westmoreland, and Hanover stood at 90.2, 73.4 and 92.4, respectively.

OPM noted that this is significantly higher than the regional average rate of 15.1 per 100,000 and the world average rate of 6.1 per 100,000.

According to OPM, the country's security chiefs noted that there are over 25 gangs of substantial concern operating in the St Andrew South Police Division, with approximately 52% of the murders in the area being attributed to gang activities.

Additionally, there are over 25 gangs of considerable interest operating in Clarendon and St Catherine accounting for approximately 50% the murders, it further stated.

There are also 25 gangs of significant concern operating within St James, Hanover and Westmoreland, with approximately 70% of the murders in these parishes being gang related.

The OPM stated that the prevalence of violent crimes and gang warfare in the areas declared immediately threaten public order and safety.

It argued that this has fostered a sustained high level of fear and insecurity among the citizenry on a scale that necessitates these security measures.

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