The police are reporting that since the start of the year, 130 prominent gang members have been arrested and charged as part of a major crackdown on criminal networks that are being blamed for more than 80 per cent of the major crimes in Jamaica.

At least 200 criminal gangs are active across the island with their members being involved in extortion, drugs, gunrunning and other major offences, the police estimate.

The leaders of some of the notorious gangs are among those arrested.

"We have launched a series of targeted operations on gang leaders, their premises and assets," Police Commissioner Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin told journalists at a recent media briefing.

But Lewin bemoaned that several of those arrested are already back on the road on bail.

Frequent complaint

That has been a frequent complaint of the police who are hoping that Parliament will enact legislation to restrict bail for suspected offenders within 60 days of their arrest.

The police could also get support from Minister of National Security Colonel Trevor MacMillan, who has already indicated that he is considering a proposal to criminalise membership in gangs.

But even as the legislators consider the changes to the law, the police have stepped up their drive against the gangs.

Counter-gang operations

Lewin said since the start of this year, 680 counter-gang operations have been launched with 26 of the more prominent violent gangs being affected.

"The gangs in Jamaica, by their nature, are very violent. In fact, they use violence to advance their objectives in terms of controlling turf, extorting money and settling disputes," acting deputy commissioner in charge of operations, Owen Ellington, said at the media briefing.

According to Ellington, the nature of Jamaican gangs is a major factor in many of the killings being recorded locally.

"We are seeing that in addition to gang-on-gang violence and inter-gang violence, if gang members are pursuing their adversaries and they can't catch them, they will seek and find friends, relatives and acquaintances and do them violence as well," Ellington added.

Deliberately crafted

Lewin said the current anti-crime strategies of the police are deliberately crafted to deal with criminal gang activities.

According to him, individual police divisions lack the ability to deal with gangs so police/military task forces have been established to provide support to the 19 territorial divisions in driving counter-gang activities.

The announcement from Lewin came days after Toronto-based criminologist Professor Scot Wortley urged the Government to spend more money on reducing criminal gangs in Jamaica.

Addressing a symposium on criminal gangs in Kingston, Wortley said additional resources should be aimed specifically at gang control.