The Jamaica Constabulary (JCF) Force is reporting a seven per cent increase in the seizure of illicit guns in the first six months of 2022 over the same period last year.

Addressing a virtual press briefing on Tuesday (July 5) Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson reported that 392 firearms have been taken off the streets through the collaborative efforts of the JCF, Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and other law-enforcement partners.

This figure represents the largest haul of weapons in the first half of each of the last five years. “When we examine the weapons seized, there has been a 60 per cent increase in the seizure of high-powered rifles, seven per cent increase in pistols and 11 per cent increase in shotguns,” the police commissioner said.

In the pursuit of gangs

He promised that the police force will continue to use all the tools available to confiscate illegal guns, pursue the gangs and go after the money used to fund their activities. The police chief is urging persons with information that could lead to the seizure of guns and/or the capture of gunmen, to call Crime Stop at 311, the tip line at 811, or the police emergency hotline at 119.

As it relates to the use of the shot-spotter gunshot detection system to aid in response to incidents of shooting, the commissioner indicated that various technologies will be rolled out in crime hotspots.

He noted that the operational deployments have been working, adding, “obviously, the more we can implement these technologies, it’s the better, so it’s something that we have been looking at for a while”.

Anderson said the new technologies will be linked to existing measures such as JamaicaEye.