The increase in reports of high school students extorting money from their peers through threats of violence has led the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigations Branch (C-TOC) to focus on these activities during Anti-Gang Week in Schools.
Deputy Superintendent Susan Bruce, director of C-TOC’s National Strategic Anti-gang Unit, noted a rise in the demand for money from lower-grade students by higher-grade students. The amounts demanded can be as small as $100, but refusal to comply results in violence.
The majority of these incidents occur in schools located in communities known for gang violence. While there have been previous cases of extortion, they were not treated as criminal acts due to legal uncertainty. Area Four, consisting of several Kingston divisions, houses over 50% of the gangs in Jamaica.
The police recognize that school-based gangs pose a risk to students but do not have specific numbers. Reports of extortion, gang-related activities, bullying, and violence are common in schools, causing fear among the school community.
In light of these concerns, the Ministry of Education emphasizes the importance of a sense of security for students traveling to and from school.
A Manchester family woke up to a dead body in their front yard.
A family from Bonito Way in Mandeville, Manchester, woke up to find the body of a man in their front yard Tuesday morning.
The body, which was found after residents reported hearing explosions Monday night, is believed to be that of Jerome Fearon, who is reportedly from a Grantham address in Clarendon.
Sources said at about 8:07 pm on Monday, residents in the community heard loud explosions and summoned the police.
The police reportedly visited the area, and following a search, they did not observe anything irregular.
Around 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, police said, occupants of a premises on Bonito Way awoke and saw the body of the deceased lying face down in their front yard and called the authorities.
Police arrived and found the lifeless body of a male with what appeared to be gunshot wounds to the upper body.
The police processed the scene and removed the body to the morgue, pending a post-mortem examination. Two spent casings were seen at a section of Bonito Crescent, the police said.