THE JAMAICA Labour Party (JLP) said it is alarmed that the Minister of National Security, Dr. Peter Phillips, said the
society should "brace for possible big-ticket robberies' and increased attempts at extortion and other crimes.Derrick Smith, the Opposition's spokesman on national security, said Minister Phillips had totally miscalculated the crime situation. He said the party was disappointed that the minister's outburst came at a time when there was an upsurge of violence in several communities.
Minister Phillips, in a Gleaner interview, said that 'big-ticket' crimes were likely consequences of the security forces' success in dismantling narcotics-based criminal networks.
But Mr. Smith said that "Dr. Phillips' statements are just the latest in the history of wild speculations which he had attempted to use to cover up his consistent failure to stem crime and violence."
The JLP also criticised the government's anti-crime initiative, Operation Kingfish, charging that it had not reaped any real success, nor had it met its objective of removing criminal dons and dismantling gangs.
