Tendai Franklyn-Brown, Staff Reporter

Security personnel, stationed at the National Arena for the Ministry of Education's National Sexuality and Reproductive Health Expo, search students for weapons before they enter the venue in this file photo dated Wednesday, February 13. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

A number of random searches conducted in secondary schools across the island have revealed that one in four students is likely to carry a weapon, including illegal firearms.

John McLean, the assistant commissioner of police in charge of the Community Safety and Security Branch, revealed the results to The Gleaner before a conference titled Disrupting Gangs in Schools at the Terra Nova Hotel in St Andrew yesterday.

McLean said he has had extensive discussions with the minister of education, Andrew Holness, on the issue of school safety and security.

He said he and the minister were looking seriously at the problem and the penalties for students carrying weapons.

McLean said a recent search at a school yielded some alarming findings.

"What we found was that one in four pupils was carrying a weapon; I'm talking about cut-throat razors, knives, ice picks, and some pretty horrible things, which is a cause for concern."

Colloborative efforts

McLean said the collaborative efforts of the education authorities and the police have resulted in the implementation of a Safe Schools Programme, a Safe Schools Task Force and the placing of 100 school resource officers (SRO) in schools across Jamaica.

According to McLean, the SROs will be undergoing enhancement training in the coming months. He, however, stressed that schools need to provide more information on criminal acts.

A summary of incidents described by SROs and released at a Peace And Love in Society workshop earlier this year supports McLean's findings. That report showed that gambling, assault, weapon-carrying and gang activity were very prevalent in schools.

In one incident, an SRO said a search authorised by the principal of a high school yielded eight knives from both male and female students, who were subsequently arrested and charged.

The youths who appeared in the Children's Court were given community service and cautioned.

McLean argued that, in order to curb the violence in schools, there should be more random searches.

He also said schools should be securely fenced to restrict entry points and that more intelligence on student involvement in gangs would have to be obtained.

tendai.franklyn-brown@gleanerjm.com