By Nagra Plunkett, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
MEMBER OF Parliament for North West St. James, Dr. Horace Chang, has lambasted the Government for what he called the lack of adequate resources to tackle the chronic crime problem in St. James.
"The recent spurts of shooting, particularly in the inner-city areas, is a clear indication of the police's incapability of correcting the problem in the short term with the meagre resources afforded to them by the state," the Jamaica Labour Party Deputy Leader said yesterday.
"The time has come for the necessary resources in terms of appropriate technologies, to be given to the police to fight crime in a sophisticated and professional approach."
His remarks came against Saturday evening's shooting death of 20-year-old Ian Campbell, in Hendon, Norwood, less than 24 hours after gunmen went on a shooting spree in the volatile communities of Glendevon and Norwood in Montego Bay.
The incident claimed the lives of two men. Five others, were injured, including a 17-year-old schoolgirl and a physically-challenged man in a wheelchair.
To date, 103 persons have been murdered in St. James, three less than the total homicides committed in 2003.
Dr. Chang, whose constituency comprises Glendevon and Norwood where most of the killings in the parish have taken place, contends that "there is an obvious lack of real intelligence" on the part of the police as the murders are occurring in a narrow geographical area and the lawmen find it difficult to stem the problem.
Senior Superintendent Paul Ferguson, the commanding officer for the parish, disclosed that a number of new strategies to include intelligence gathering and scientific methods would be employed to apprehend the persons responsible, some of whom are already known.
"We are doing a critical analysis of the gangs and members, some of whom are teenagers. We are also looking at the motives and their modus operandi," SSP Ferguson stated. "We are very concerned with the blatant way in which the acts are carried out. It would appear that some of these men are protected by their communities."
According to Mr. Ferguson, they will be seeking to identify the source of the gangsters' resources, as they do not have the capability to fund themselves.
