Glenroy Sinclair, Assignment Coordinator

Significant forensic challenges, a lack of resources, training and equipment, are among the major obstacles preventing the police from removing more murderers from the streets, says Assistant Commissioner of Police Les Green, head of the Major Investigation Task force (MIT).

Up to yesterday, at least 514 persons were reported murdered in Jamaica since January and the police have only been able to close their files on 40 per cent of the cases.

Awaiting results up to a year

"We have to wait on forensic results sometimes up to a year and this has been preventing us from apprehending murder suspects," ACP Green disclosed yesterday, during a media briefing held at the Police Commissioner's Office in Kingston.

Majority of the victims slain so far this year were killed by the gun and a new team, 'Operation Musketeers', which was briefly mentioned by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller in her budget speech two weeks ago, has been mandated to search for and seize the illegal guns hidden in communities across the island.

The team will operate out of the offices of the Organised Crime Investigation Division and Operation Kingfish. Meanwhile, the Fugitive Apprehension Team, which normally hunts down and arrests fugitives who are to be extradited, will also be targeting suspects on the country's most wanted list.

"Their numbers will be doubled and they will receive additional training," said ACP Green.

More scene-of-crime detectives will be recruited, trained and equipped. ACP Green said they will focus more on forensic evidence at crime scenes.

"We cannot sit and wait on eyewitnesses to come forward," Acting Assistant Commissioner Calvin Benjamin told journalists.

Significant improvement

The police said there has been significant improvement in the Government-funded Witness Protection Programme, which has been accepting people almost daily. Pointing to the cases of the 63 policemen murdered between 2002 and 2006, the police said 35 of those cases have been cleared up. But they were unable to say how many of the 29 guns that were stolen from the lawmen were recovered.

Meanwhile, of the eight policemen killed since start of the year, the police yesterday disclosed that Constable Michael Haughton, who reports had earlier stated was killed by gunmen along Payne Avenue on May 9, was in fact killed by one of his own colleagues in friendly fire.

"A report is being compiled to be sent to the commissioner of police and the Director of Public Prosecutions for them to determine what next," said Karl Angell, the Jamaica Constabulary Force's director of communications.

Murders for 2007

January	- 148	(2006 -118)
February	- 97	(2006 - 101)
March	- 123	(2006 - 123)
April	- 121	(2006 - 129)