The police are reporting a 17 per cent reduction in major crimes in the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s (JCF) Area Three, comprising St Elizabeth, Manchester and Clarendon.

Area Three Commanding Officer, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Calvin Allen, who made the disclosure, attributed the decline to the security forces maintaining a strong presence in targetted sections of the parishes.

Addressing a recent town hall at Church Teachers’ College in Mandeville, Manchester, ACP Allen said Clarendon has recorded a significant percentage of the reductions. The senior officer, who noted the region’s 22 per cent reduction in murders, said Clarendon has recorded 34 fewer homicides to date this year, compared to 2023.

“We are [also] seeing a 25 per cent reduction in the number of persons who have experienced any form of robbery,” he added.

ACP Allen said the Manchester Division has recorded a 17 per cent decline in major crimes committed, despite flareups in shootings resulting from interpersonal conflicts and activities by “imported criminals”.

He reported that the Manchester Police have so far seized 18 firearms this year, compared to 16 last year; confiscated 100 rounds of ammunition, and prosecuted persons committing 25,000 breaches of the Road Traffic Act. The senior officer added that Manchester is the leading Division islandwide in the crime clear-up rate, at 76 per cent.

“We have been focusing on our road policing, increasing our presence, and utilising things like curfews, and cordon and searches,” ACP Allen informed.

The Area Three Chief urged persons engaged in or seeking to resort to violence to, among other things, settle disputes to refrain from doing so. “Find other means to resolve conflicts. We need to be far more mature in how we engage these issues. Come to the police, find a respected elder, a pastor, a Justice of the Peace, who you can confide in,” ACP Allen emphasised.

The senior officer also issued a strong warning to persons failing to heed this advice. “This is a clear message to those who seek to perpetuate violence, we [police] are coming for you,” ACP Allen declared.