PM wants security forces to get tougher on criminals

PRIME Minister Dr Andrew Holness has urged the leadership of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to intensify its efforts to go after criminal gangs and the people who support them. Holness, who returned to the island on Saturday, was immediately briefed by Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake about the developments in the Five Miles area off the Sligoville main road in St Catherine which left five men — JCF members Corporal Trevoy Shaw, and Constable Devoney Rose; and civilians Errol Hussey, his son Malique Hussey, and nephew Javoun Cogle — dead, and a 10-year-old girl nursing a gunshot wound. In his response Holness offered condolence to the families of the dead cops, the hope for the full recovery of the injured child, and expressed relief that other civilians who were in the house escaped unharmed. The prime minister said the reports on the incident provide a stark reminder that Jamaica cannot let its guard down or relax the laws. “We must maintain our resolute posture against organised criminal violence. The emerging accounts of this incident point to a disturbing level of planning and coordination. You reported that there was misdirection, diversionary gunfire from outside, [and] there was support and prearranged transport. All of this must be fully investigated. “We must uncover and dismantle every person, every network, every resource, every facilitator who enabled this violence,” added Holness. He said the police account also reveals something even more chilling, that the gunmen were willing to use members of their own households as shields to protect themselves. “This is the kind of evil that we are confronted with in our society. These men had a choice, they could have put down their weapons, they could have surrendered and had their day in court. Instead they chose lethal violence,” Holness said. “But let me be blunt, we must separate these evil men from our society. We must stop making excuses for men who carry illegal guns, terrorise communities, and prey upon the vulnerable. They are not protectors; they are not justified by poverty, exclusion, or social injustice. They are not freedom fighters, they are not Robin Hoods, they are not rebels or misunderstood victims. They are parasites and pestilence upon our society,” declared Holness.

Police approaching the house where men allegedly engaged them in a shoot-out in Five Miles, St Catherine, on Friday. (Naphtali Junior)

According to the prime minister, these criminals are obstructions to the progress of the society, which is better off without them. “They must be identified, disarmed, arrested, prosecuted, and removed from our communities through the full force and uncompromising force of the law. There can be no moral equivalency. There can be no romanticising of guns; no glorifying of gunmen; and no tolerance for those who shelter finance, arm, and celebrate them. We must never comfort ourselves with the illusion that organised terror cannot exist in our communities,” said Holness. He said the attack on the security forces on Friday has shaken members but it has not diluted the resolve of both the JCF and the Jamaica Defence Force. Holness said the National Security Council will have its regular monthly meeting this week during which it we will review the situation. “But I can tell you from now, commissioner… the policy direction is that you should intensify the operations that you have planned to target the criminals, the gang leaders, those who you have been pursuing with intelligence. “Bring them forward. Intensify it. Because what this has shown is a new level of criminal organisation that is a threat to our national security. Whatever resources you need, we will discuss it but you should make a big push now to get as many of these who are just lying in wait to confront and challenge the security of the country,” added Holness. He argued that Friday’s incident in Five Miles must be used as a watershed and a turning point as it underscored that there are people with criminal intent and the capability and wherewithal to unleash terror on the society. “And we must meet them head on. We must meet them head on and maintain our civility and the rule of law. So the word to all gunman: ‘Tek weh unnuself!’ ” declared Holness.