Holness defends security forces, says criminals posing as innocents

ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica –Amid recent cases of fatal shootings by the security forces, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has warned criminals pretending to be innocent civilians that the security forces have the intelligence to find them and expose their illegal activities, even as he pointed to the Government’s push to reduce murders. His comments came against the backdrop of Tuesday’s fatal shooting of Jowayne Salmon, otherwise called “Mani” by the police, in Balaclava, which sparked protests and roadblocks in Speculation near Luana. Police said Salmon was a known member of the Speculation gang. "We are at this point where our murder rate has fallen from highs of 1,360 to now we will probably end the year under 600,” he said, evoking applause on Wednesday at a grounding ceremony in Luana. “Let us get the murderers out of our society. Let us get them out now, including those who are wrapped up in our communities, who infiltrate our organisations, who pretend like they are innocent and you don’t know what they are doing outside. We know,” he said. “This is a warning and I am putting it very clearly to all of the criminals, all of the dons, all of them who are pretending that they are not involved; we know. When we act it is not arbitrary and we will continue to invest in the intelligence capabilities of the force so that we can identify those people who are committing murders,” added Holness. He reiterated that the security forces will not relent in pursuing criminals posing in communities as “Robin Hoods”. “The decline in the murder rate is not by accident and in our society sometimes we praise the perpetrators and we don’t pay enough attention and give sympathies to the victims. I don’t see people demonstrating for the murders of innocent people in Jamaica as how there are demonstrations for persons who the police have implicated or for those who commit the crimes,” he said “To get to that point where there doesn’t need to be any more police killings the murder rate needs to get to zero, because as long as there is one murder there is a murderer and we must find that one murderer,” he added. Earlier this month the Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom) said it is monitoring an increase in multiple-fatality shootings involving members of the security forces, with 67 people killed in 26 such incidents in 2026 up to September 13. Overall more than 215 people have been fatally shot by members of the security forces since the start of the year. Holness said he is aware of the presence of the Speculation gang in the Luana area. “I am aware as I keep tabs on all matters of national security and defence that there are some issues affecting this community. The brief I got was that the community was a bit tense, because there was a shooting of a community member,” he said. “Security is an important part of communities and in security comes not just from a police involved killing, but it also comes mainly particularly, because of this phenomenon of gang activity and yes it affects families, it is painful, it is for a family losing a loved one hurtful and the society cannot ignore it or in any way cast aspersions on the person who was killed. We leave that up to the law and the systems in place which are very robust to properly investigate all state involved killings,” he added. He said mechanisms are in place to probe the conduct of members of the security forces in the execution of their duties. “I wish to assure the families and communities that the state is not above the law and that the institutions that are in place, many of them independent of the Government, will execute their duties faithfully to uncover any improper behaviour,” he said. He urged citizens to be mindful of the threat to communities and safety by gangsters. “Unfortunately, some of them parade as if they are Robin Hood as if they are there to protect you, but no they are only there to rob your neighbourhood and we have seen in St Elizabeth the emergence of a particular gang….”, he said. “We have increased significantly the capacity of the police to gather intelligence, to investigate and uncover all those who are involved in gangs, including those who pretend to be innocent. We know them,” he added. Said Holness: “We will go after them. We will find them and our first attempt is always to bring them before the courts, so yes, I do pay attention to all the protests and to all the families who claim the innocence of their loved ones who have been killed by state forces… There shouldn’t be one innocent person who is killed, even a guilty person, an involved person should not be killed, but I want it to be absolutely clear that the security forces are not working arbitrarily. They work on intelligence, evidence, and their investigative capabilities have improved”.