Glenroy Sinclair, Assignment Coordinator

Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas. - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer

Several communities categorised as hot spots by the police, are now under the microscope in preparation for what Commissioner of Police Lucius Thomas had warned may be a violent general election year.

The police have been busy reviewing their daily strategies in these volatile areas, where violence is likely to erupt and escalate before and during the election.

"These areas are being targeted based on the crime information across some police divisions," said Assistant Commissioner in charge of crime, Denver Frater.

Among the biggest concerns is Kingston east, which incorporates the volatile communities of Mountain View Avenue and Rockfort. Last year, 77 people were killed in this division.

"This area is one of our major concerns," the Police Commissioner told The Gleaner, recently.

Areas such as Jacques Road, Goodridge Lane, Saunders Avenue, Jarrett Lane, McIntyre Land (Dunkirk) and Bull Bay are also listed among the hot spots.

The police divisions of St. Andrew south and St. Andrew central complete the major trouble spots in the Corporate Area. For St. Andrew south, the police have identified Whitfield Town, Greenwich Town, McKinley Crescent, Bay Farm Road and Seaview Gardens.

"Almost the entire division is a hot spot," said Deputy Superintendent Michael Phipps, the division's crime officer. The murder toll in the division for 2006 stood at 195.

IDENTIFIED HOT SPOTS

St. Andrew central, which covers August Town, sections of Maxfield Avenue and Waltham Park Road, saw more than 92 homicides in the division last year.

Communities in St. James, including Flankers, Salt Spring, Norwood, Glendevon and Granville, head the list of rural concerns. Last year, 178 people were murdered in the parish - the majority of the killings taking place in the constituency of North West St. James.

In Clarendon, Canaan Heights, Sandy Bay, Palmers Cross, Sevens Road and the Town centre are of have major concern as rival factions are involved in a multimillion-dollar extortion racket. The parish accounted for 93 of the over 1,335 murders committed last year.

In Westmoreland, the problem areas are Russia, Grange Hill, Frome, Negril and Whithorn. Last year, 54 cases of homicide were reported in the parish.

Seaforth, Church Corner, Yallahs, Dumphries, White Horses and Grants Pen are among the hot spots in the parish of St. Thomas, where 29 people were killed last year.

With at least 40 persons murdered over the past eight days, the police commissioner reiterated that intelligence suggests, that the election, which is constitutionally this year, will not be peaceful. He also commented that there had been an increase in the movement and accumulation of guns in various parts of the island.

Last month, a member of the Peace Management Initiative had also commented that there was intelligence that guns and ammunition were being stockpiled in a number of communities in preparation for the general election.