THE police have created intelligence files on 300 suspected criminals who will be targeted under the states of public emergency (SOEs) imposed in seven parishes across the island on Tuesday.
Addressing a media briefing where details of the SOEs were announced, Police Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson said the powers of the SOEs will allow the security forces to separate those criminals creating violence in the communities from those they wish to harm, whether by detention, or orders disallowing them from entering the communities.
“Apart from the immediate impact of this action it provides communities with the space to come forward with information and sometimes evidence to support investigations and other police action,” said Anderson.
“Enhanced powers of search… and greater flexibility of operations of the security forces are the other key features we will exploit over the period,” added Anderson.
He said the police had created “intelligence packages” on the 300 individuals when it launched Operation Relentless in September and still have them and some others.
“Every division, as part of its divisional policing plan, has the packages on persons who are creating problems in their divisional space. Now, there are two sets of persons, there are those who are wanted as persons of interest in a matter…,” said Anderson.
The second set of individuals, he said, are strongly suspected of committing murders but the police do not, at this time, have enough evidence to arrest them, however, “they are out there killing and influencing killings; we know who they are and we have intelligence packages on them.
“Under the emergency powers both of those sets are vulnerable and yes, we have significant intelligence on them,” added Anderson as he underscored that those are not the only people who will be targeted under the SOEs.
