“We are not very optimistic that, having seen their names in the media, they will come in. These are hardened criminals. Most of them can’t read and write, they don’t necessarily have common sense,
but we have laid the table for them and if they want to come and eat, we are willing to have them come in — or otherwise we are willing to come and find them,” added Ricketts.
He pointed out that Whitfield Town is a “perennial hot spot” which continuously has gang conflicts.
“We are in search mode right across the country. The JCF has pushed out as much officers as possible to dominate the spaces, particularly the hot spots we are concerned about,” said Ricketts.
The divisional commander underscored that the crime rate in the St Andrew South Division, which is home to more than 20 inner-city communities, is not low, even though the numbers are now below last year’s figures.
“We are still not comfortable because the St Andrew South division continues to be one of the more violent spaces in the country,” said Ricketts.
“In the last month or so we have seen an uptick in violent incidents across the division. We have identified a number of persons we believe to be the main perpetrators behind these incidents and as such we have released a number of names.
“These persons are categorised as persons of interest, as well as we have a number of persons who are wanted and can be before the courts, and we have also released their names. We believe that these individuals are the main perpetrators behind the violence we are seeing in the division,” said Ricketts as he told the media that there are, on average, 70 gangs operating in the division, of which 40 are active.
“They range from our eastern boundaries here in Whitfield Town across to Waterhouse and Seaview [Gardens] and Cockburn Pen. These are the areas we have been having challenges with over the last month or two,” said Ricketts.
Last Saturday head of operations at the St Andrew South Police Division, Deputy Superintendent Coleridge Minto released the latest crime numbers for the division.
“Data for this time last year: We had 33 murders when compared to 22, a reduction of 33 per cent. Shootings, 38 when compared to 33 this year, a reduction of 13 per cent,” said Minto as he named the division’s most wanted men.
