4,000 detained under state of emergency

More than 4,000 Jamaicans have been detained under the state of emergency since it was first imposed on May 23.

Responding to questions in Parliament yesterday, Prime Minister Bruce Golding announced that police figures up to July 14 showed that 4,181 persons were detained in the almost two months of emergency measures activated to rein in crime.

That figure is expected to increase sharply when the number of persons detained in Wilton Gardens, better known as Rema, in western Kingston last weekend and those detained in the curfew now on in sections of east Kingston is added.

But using the week-old data, Golding said, of those detained, 2,792 were held in the Corporate Area and 1,389 were held in St Catherine.

The vast majority of those detained up to last week (3,485, or 83 per cent) were processed and released.

Golding told the House of Representatives that 139 detention orders were issued in the three parishes under curfew, with 138 of that number still behind bars.

Seizing assets

He said at least 28 of the detainees could face the courts with the authorities using the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).

The prime minister's statement on the use of POCA echoed similar comments from Police Commissioner Owen Ellington last month.

At that time, Ellington indicated that efforts were under way to seize the assets of at least 20 suspected gang lords who are believed to have amassed massive fortunes through a life of crime.

arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com