Following a spate of violence in the West Kingston area, including a triple murder in Wilton Gardens, and the burning and looting of homes in neighbouring Denham Town, the police have imposed a 24-hour curfew in sections of the two communities.
Between 10:00 a.m. yesterday and 10:00 a.m. today, no pedestrian or vehicle was permitted to enter or leave the area. It was the first day-long curfew that the police were imposing for a while in the country. The Constabulary Communi-cation Network (CCN) confirmed it, however, the CCN could not say exactly when the last day-long curfew was held. In recent times, CCN said, curfews are usually overnight, running between 5:00 p.m.and 9:00 a.m., or from 7:00 p.m to 10:00 a.m.
In Wilton Gardens, commonly known as Rema, the boundaries for this curfew area were north along First Street, west along Collie Smith Drive, east along East Road and south along Third Street. The boundaries in Denham Town were north along Race Course Lane, east along Elgin Street, south along Water Lane and west along Nuthall Street.
"Persons within the said locality are required to remain within their premises unless authorised in writing by the member of the security forces in charge of the curfew," a Constabulary Com-munication Network release stated yesterday.
Early on Thursday morning, several houses on Greenwich Street, Denham Town, were burnt out, looted and shot at, leaving 12 families homeless. The triple murder of pregnant 15-year-old Shanique Reynolds and her three-year-old twin sisters, Shavel and Shavanese Malcolm, as they slept on Friday morning in Wilton Gardens is being treated as a reprisal for the previous night's violence.
Throughout Friday night, gunshots could be heard across several areas of the city but police reports indicate that these did not result in any harm.
