Commissioner of Police Major General Anthony Anderson says 560 illegal weapons have been taken off the streets so far this year.

The police commissioner made the disclosure during a quarterly press conference on Tuesday, October 3, as he updated the nation on the country’s crime situation.

“Illegal guns continue to be the weapon of choice for the criminals. Eighty-four per cent of murders are still by the use of firearms and in our efforts to combat this, 560 have been recovered this year so far,” he said.

As of Saturday, September 30, the country’s murder tally stood at 1,028, which is an 11 per cent decline in murders compared to the similar period last year.

“Interpersonal violence accounts for 21 per cent of total homicides while gang-related murders account for 66 per cent. This is a shift from the 70-plus per cent attributable to gangs as our counter-gang measures take effect,” Anderson said.

“As we begin the final quarter of this year. We remain resolute in our drive to save as many lives as possible to continue our efforts against gangs and criminal organizations and end the year with reductions in all major crimes. We are looking forward to even greater collaboration and assistance from our local law enforcement partners, the JDF [Jamaica Defence Force], Customs [the Jamaica Customs Agency], MOCA [Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency] and others as we close the year and move into next year,” he added.

The commissioner also noted that more than 60 violent gang members have been arrested up to the third quarter of the year.