We will hunt you down

DESCRIBING the increase of gang-related murders in the Western Division as totally unacceptable, Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of crime Irwin Hackshaw yesterday issued a strong warning to warring gang members that their reign of terror is short-lived. They will be found and flushed out of their hiding places within the coming days, he vowed.

Yesterday, the murder toll in the Western Division stood at 27 compared with 17 for the same period last year. Police statistics show the Western Division, which is under the management of Snr Supt Neville Sankar, has the most gangs in the country. Some officers estimate that there are close to 300 gangs in that division and within recent times there have been gang-related killings and shootings almost daily.

The killings have been taking place in Carenage, Cocorite, Diego Martin and Petit Valley. Those areas were also identified as being the hiding places of the gang members. The statistics also revealed that Central Division has recorded the highest number of murders for the year with 42 people being killed compared with 32 for the same period last year, while the Northern Division has the second highest figure. Western is considered a small division with only five police stations in that district. On Wednesday, Hackshaw called an emergency meeting to deal head-on with what has been described as a crisis in the Western Division. He told Newsday, “It is of great concern to the organisation and in particular Western Division, and as ACP (Crime) I am putting measures in place to curtail and push back these criminals from creating further bloodshed in the Western Division. We intend to bring these criminals to justice so that they can face the full brunt of the law. The police will be using all the state resources to ensure that calm is restored. “We want no negotiations with these gang members, we want no compromise with gang members. We will seek you out, flush you out and make sure you are brought to justice.” Last year, Insp Godfrey Vincent, the inspector in charge of crime in the Western Division, was asked by some gang members to meet with them so that peace talks could be held. He met with some gang members based in Petit Valley and the shooting and murders stopped for a while. However, it remained uncertain yesterday what is triggering the upsurge in shootings and gang-related murders, especially in Cocorite, Diego Martin and Carenage. On Wednesday, two men were gunned down in Cocorite in what were described as gang-related killings. They were identified as Dwayne Manzano, 36, and Damien Maingot, also 36. Sources said yesterday that police and soldiers are expected to maintain a round-the-clock presence in four hot-spot areas in the Western Division which was expected to begin from 6 pm yesterday.