Businessman Laurence Heffes said there had been an increase in robberies in the commercial village of downtown Kingston, but the business community was working with the police and, so far, they had seen some results.
Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
EXTORTIONISTS HAVE once again turned up the heat on business operators in the commercial district of downtown Kingston. Reports are that at least four Chinese establishments on Princess Street were held up and robbed between Tuesday and Wednesday of last week.
Head of the Kingston Central CIB, Acting Deputy Superintendent Derrick Champagnie, said while the police have not received a formal report, they are aware of the incidents. "With the assistance of members of the Island Special Constabulary Force, we have put in place some measures," Acting DSP Champagnie told The Sunday Gleaner. The police believe the robberies are being orchestrated by known thugs in the adjoining communities of Charles Street, which have imported criminals from the Hannah Town and Arnett Gardens areas.
According to DSP Champagnie, over the past four weeks, his team of officers have seized four illegal guns in the Charles Street area. On Thursday night, a 22-year-old man, Phillip Palmer, was killed during a shootout with the police and a Mac-11 weapon seized.
Speaking with The Gleaner on Friday, Larry Heffes, one of the directors at the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), said there had been an increase in robberies in the commercial village of downtown Kingston, but that the business community was working with the police and, so far, they had seen some results.But a member of the business community, who confirmed that he had been paying a "little thing" to the extortionists, said a number of business operators had been robbed. "Those who get robbed are afraid to talk," the businessman said.
