And so what is the solution to the upsurge in gang violence? In the past weeks, we've seen it steadily escalating and going from one neighbourhood to another in what appears to be an endless cycle of retaliation.
Last night police went on an aggressive round up of a few key players in the gang underworld to try and arrest this retaliation loop. But, while those are detained, there is no state of emergency to hold them for 30 days - and talking to Compol Williams today, he said that's the last resort:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"From since the murder of Drury we did anticipate that there would be some retaliation. If you would notice that the Martin's area where we had expected the retaliation between Backaland and PIV we have kept that area sterile for the most part. The police have been conducting intense operations within that area but what you see happen is that they left the area and went all the way to Faber's Road which is outside the area of concern. So, it is indeed a challenge because you know that we are really stretched thin in terms of our human resources. We still have to maintain a heavy presence between Taylor's Alley and George Street because the tension still exists. If you go in that area you will see we have heavy presence in that area and so with that area we also have the Banak which is another hot area because Banak and Mayflower continue to go at each other and so we have to maintain a strong presence. Now we have the Martin's area which is twice the size of George Street and Taylor's Alley put together and so it is extremely difficult but we are doing what we can to be able to police the area with the resources we have. What we did yesterday we detained a number of the players who are involved and who we believe may get involved because it would appear that it is just a matter for these two groups to take out anybody they believe belong to the other side. So we have to do what we can. But I need to appeal to parents because they have the most important role to play because they are the ones who control and know what their children are doing and if it is that you know your child is involved in these activities the best thing to do is to tell your child to stay home and to stay out of the war. I know you are going to ask about SOE and I have said before that while yes I personally do not like the SOE, but sometimes as a measure of last resort it is the only thing that these young men understand that is going to put them in line. So at the end of the day we are going to do what needs to be done."
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"Taken from the most cynical perspective it can be argued that while you all discuss, people are dying."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Like I said we must look at every option and we don't want to just jump to SOE, we want to use it as a means of last resort, we are exhausting every other option. If we exhaust every other option and they still continue to do what they are doing, then we have to resort the measure of last resort."
