Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer

SPANISH TOWN, St. Catherine:

Notwithstanding a significant decline in major crimes, except for sex offences, in the St. Catherine North Police Division, the Spanish Town police say they are concerned about the migratory patterns of gangs into suburban areas.

A senior investigator stated that to date there have been 114 murders in the division compared to 169 for the corresponding period last year.

But, while the police take credit for the reduction in homicides, they are concerned about the killing of two residents in the usually quiet Hampton Green community.

On Sunday, 19-year-old Dean Samuda, a footballer, became the second resident to be killed in less than a week in the area. It is reported that about 9:30 a.m., Samuda was at home when he was called out by men who brandished guns and shot him several times all over his body. He died on the spot.

His death followed that of 56-year-old Donald Warmington, who was shot and killed in the community on Monday, August 28, by unknown assailants.

The police told The Gleaner that both killings are believed to be connected, as Samuda allegedly told persons that he saw Warmington's attacker.

Authorities in Spanish Town, Jamaica's former capital, have battled to curb a soaring crime rate in recent years. The Clansman and One Order gangs, which are reputedly aligned to the ruling People's National Party and the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party, respectively, are in a phase of restructuring after their leaders were killed.

Instilling fear

However, one resident of Ensom City, a sprawling lower middle-class community, says that gangs have extended their tentacles into suburban neighbourhoods, instilling fear.

"Just a few Fridays ago, they held a big party by the open playing field then they played the song, the Clansman song, (saying) they take over now ... nobody can rape old lady or granny."

The resident, who requested anonymity, said thugs fired shots in the air, declaring that they were now in charge.

"They're taking over the places that are silent. They said dem need to hot up Ensom City because the place is too silent. There is no strong citizens' association.

"Little by little, they're coming out of the mainstay areas where they are targeted and going into the more affluent areas," he said.

But the police plan to step up operations in the Old Capital and to increase both foot and mobile patrols, crediting their success to the high level of community policing and the increased cooperation from residents.

"The intensifying of police patrols and other strategies in the St. Catherine North Division, especially in Spanish Town, has really but a damper in the criminal net, and as a result murder is down in these trouble spots," said Det. Sgt. Ottie Williams of the Spanish Town Police Station.