POLICE SUPERINTENDENT Frederick Will-iams has expressed concern that for the period January 31 to April this year, a total of 57 murders were committed in the St. Andrew South Division.
"This is cause for concern since statistics for the nation show that this division accounts for most murders when compared to other geographic divisions," he said.
Guns were the main weapons used to commit the murders. Last year police in the division recovered 24 guns with 749 rounds of ammunition and this year they recovered 18 guns with 408 rounds of ammunition.
These statistics were reported at a recent presentation of the Police-Citizens Code of Conduct booklets to the police and citizens at a ceremony at the Hunts Bay police station.
According to Supt. Williams the murders were confined to the inner-city communities where the citizens on many occasions chose to take the law into their own hands.
"Quite frequently, even when the police intervened members of the community seek revenge on the persons accused or anyone known to be connected to the accused. This sometimes results in open gang war which leads to the injury and sometimes death of innocent persons," he said.
The cries sometimes for justice which came from the inner cities were not always because the police acted in a manner which angered citizens but acted in a manner which prevented the citizens from taking the law into their own hands, he told the gathering. He said that many times the police were caught in the middle and therefore "we must continue to enforce the law impartially and in a professional manner."
He welcomed the Police Citizens Code of Conduct which he said reinforced the commitment of the staff of the St. Andrew South Division to work with the citizens they served to achieve positive results. He thanked those who assisted in producing the Code of Conduct and described their effort as a bold step in trying to encourage good relations between the police and the citizens, rather than staying on the fence, criticising and not offering to help when asked.
He urged the citizens to help in the fight against crime by joining one of the various citizens' groups striving for and enhancing good police/citizen relations.
The division has 44 districts consisting of communities ranging from very poor and depressed areas to affluent middle class communities. Superint-endent Williams said it was significant to note that approximately 75 per cent of the division was inhabited by lower income families. He said that percentage was classified as Innercity communities and posed a major challenge in carrying out "our policing responsibilities."
