Police seek to reassure they have information in brutal murders but want more Police in St Ann have turned to the public for assistance, as investigators try to solve several murders committed across the parish last month. Seven people were murdered in March and this spike in murders has left citizens concerned especially since no arrest have so far been made and some of those murdered were well known in their community. The top man in charge of crime for the parish, deputy superintendent Gladston Ellis said the police are working extremely hard to bring the persons responsible for the brutal crimes to justice.
Last Wednesday, April 2, the hierarchy of the St. Ann police called a press conference to address the spiraling crime problem. While the police did not release the figures relating to murders for January, they said no murders were committed in February. In 2013, seven people were also murdered during March. Head of the St. Ann police, senior superintendent Yvonne Martin-Daley told reporters that while the police are using all available resources to help them solve these crimes, the public’s assistance is needed. At the same time, she wants people to contact the police rather than turn to violence as a way of solving disputes, as apparently happened, resulting in some of the murders.
The commanding officer said while the recent crimes might be considered alarming, she assured citizens that all resources and strategies available to crime fighters are being used to ensure the crimes are death with swiftly. “Since January of this year, to date , we have been seeing some crime conditions that some persons may very well want to say (are) alarming, however, at this time, we just want to reassure our citizens that the police are taking every effort, every step to ensure that the investigative process, the intelligence processes, as well as all the other social intervention, and operational strategies are right now on train and we are doing everything we can to ensure that all these crimes that we are seeing are dealt with and dealt with swiftly,” she emphasized. She added: “In January we had a very good month, February was even better, in the month of March we are experiencing what some persons would say are crimes of concern. We have seen at least four persons being murdered in a gruesome way.”
She said primarily, murders are being committed using cutting implements, and about 50 percent she said involved the gun. SSP Martin Daley said she wants the parish to be crime free, therefore, she wants citizens to assist the police at all times in getting information which will assist them in clearing the crimes.
CONFLICT
She said crimes which are committed using cutting implements suggest that some amount of conflict was involved. She said once there is conflict, people should speak to the police rather than take things in their own hands. “We have a mediation process that we can take individual through so that people can ventilate their issues and at the end of the day we get some amount of solution,” she continued. “We are solution oriented and so we want persons to appreciate that, rather than seeking their own redress and then we have these crimes spiking.”In relation to the firearm murders, SSP Martin Daley said police intelligence indicate that those crimes were committed by itinerant criminals. However, she said the police have initiated strategies to deal with criminals who have fled their areas and are seeking refuge in other areas or those who hop across borders to commit crimes. She said the police have been using a lot of its social intervention programmes to help people, including students, deal with conflicts.
Meanwhile, DSP Ellis said investigators are pursuing a number of leads into the murders. DSP Ellis said the probes are at an advanced stage and he said persons of interest have been identified in some of the murders. “The investigation in those are quite advanced, we have recorded a number of statements, we have information which we are working with in an effort to bring the perpetrators to justice, we are going to work through all these information and see where it takes us,” DSP Ellis said. “It (investigation) is at an early stage still, but we are doing the best we can in terms of getting the evidence that is required to charge persons for these offenses,” he added. Among the brutal murders which still have tongues wagging is the death of popular JUTA driver Kevin Braham who was found dead near Claremont in his burnt out pick -up truck on March 20, and Wegon Bennett, a pastry chef from Belle-Air and who worked with the Disney Cruise Line. He was found with multiple stab wounds inside his house on March 18.
