JCF in talks with TCI administrators re gang brutality with links to J'cans

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Jamaican law enforcement officials are engaged in dialogue with their Turks and Caicos counterparts after authorities in the British overseas territory said its surge in gang violence is related to a Jamaican gang and serious transnational crime.

The disclosure was made by Police Commissioner, Major General Antony Anderson, at a Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) press conference on Tuesday.

“I have been speaking with the commissioner of police in Turks and Caicos,” said Anderson when asked whether he was aware of the situation in that territory.

“We have been having those discussions, and I know there are some other discussions taking place at [the] government-to-government level,” he said.

“We already are working from an intelligence perspective together on this… It’s early discussions, and I think that I will leave it there for now,” the police commissioner said.

Though tight-lipped on the situation, Anderson pledged: “As things develop, we will certainly update on that.”

Governor of Turks and Caicos Islands Nigel John Dakin said, following the visit of Premier Charles Washington Misick to Jamaica, the Jamaican Cabinet met on Monday “and we hope for support from them, as well”.

Added Dakin: “The trans-regional criminal links to their country make a strengthened intelligence exchange a priority.”

The governor was, on Monday, speaking in the House of Assembly on the surge in gang violence in their country.

Addressing one of the latest shooting incidents, the governor said, on Sunday night, following an attack in Long Bay against those who were allegedly associated with local drug dealers, and where an innocent visitor from the US was killed, a Police Tactical Unit – on patrol and deployed with the express mission to arrest violent criminals – intercepted the assailants.

The police vehicle was hit by multiple strikes from high-velocity rounds.

Explaining the lead-up to the surge in shootings and gang violence in September, the governor said several months ago two local gangs lost their leadership.

One extremely violent local gang leader was shot dead by police while resisting arrest. The other, a Haitian gang leader, who the police had made four separate attempts to arrest in the shanty areas of ‘Romy Yard’ was killed — by one of his own — before he could be arrested.

The vacuum and confusion this created, allowed a predominantly Jamaican gang — with a relatively small footprint in the TCI — to reinforce from Jamaica.

They had been seeking to kill one of their local rivals, following his attempt to steal from them.

Several days ago, as well, there was an exchange of fire with a Jamaican who dropped his weapon but escaped. On Saturday night, a high-speed police pursuit resulted in three arrests and seized weaponry.

In a bid to get control of the situation, the governor stated that, among other things, firearms specialists from the UK arrived on Sunday’s British Airways flight and were at work Monday with the TCI’s Tactical Firearms Unit.

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