The surge in murders shows how short-term strategies that do not target the deep-rooted control gangs exert over neighborhoods are not effective at all, the outlet said.
Denham Town is a Kingston neighborhood that was designated as a “zone of special operation” late last year. Police and military created a program for these zones called ZOSO.
Six months after implementing a “clear, hold and build” strategy, security forces scaled back their presence to make way for the next stage centered around social intervention rather than searching for illegal weapons and wanted men.
After the police left the Denham Town, it became a “bloody nightmare” and residents claimed that 20 people had been shot by heavily armed gangs who were shooting at their rivals, according to the Jamaica Gleaner.
"You lucky if you see 100 people out here, and if the police never here, you wouldn't see anybody. Not even you would be standing out here talking now. Everybody would be behind corners," one man told the Jamaican outlet.
Residents were wearing buttons with pictures of those that fell victim to the violence in the weeks since forces pulled out.
The ZOSO program had to change its plan quickly and officials reestablished security checkpoints and regular patrols.
"We have increased the number of police in the space because we realize that criminal elements are seeking to exploit the gains that have been made,” said Dian Bartley, a communications officer for ZOSO. “So against that background, the fear among the residents has caused us to re-strategize.”
With the patrols and security checkpoints back in place, residents will have to declare their identities while walking through the neighborhood. Most are glad that the police are back.
“I'm glad to have them back, trust me,” one street vendor told the Jamaica Gleaner. “If it is up to me alone, they would live down here every day because it is dread. I don't know what happen to them little boys here.”
Another vendor lamented the fact that a militarized zone seems to be the only option left.
“It looks like if we don't have police and soldier down here, it can't be better,” she said. “All the police and soldiers tired of them now. Them (gunmen) grieve me, trust me. As six o'clock come, we have to be locking up.”
InSight Crime commented that security and crime in Jamaica, which has seen a rising murder rate over the last three years, continues to worsen and calls the recent approaches by authorities “clumsy” and “short-sighted.”
