Western police brace for Flanker figure’s return as Area One murder plunge holds

Western Jamaica’s police say they are already positioning themselves for the expected return of a former Flanker area leader from Montego Bay, St James, and maintain that his anticipated re-entry will not reverse the sharp fall in violent crime recorded across Area One over the last 10 years.

That concern featured in town hall talks this week when Commissioner of Police Dr Kevin Blake toured Area One. Senior officers examined crime patterns, weighed the tactics credited with cutting murders, and considered how to lock in those advances as new security pressures emerge.

At the Wednesday session at Area One headquarters in Montego Bay, Senior Superintendent Eron Samuels, who heads the St James Police Division, confirmed officers know the man — first sent home from the United States in 2018 — is again due to be returned to Jamaica shortly. Samuels would not outline operational plans but said the Area One hierarchy is already readying itself and is resolved that the former area leader’s expected arrival must not undo the region’s progress against violent crime.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Glenford Miller, Area One’s commander, steered the strategic review, joined by the chiefs of the command’s four divisions. Those leaders are Samuels; Senior Superintendent Samuel Blake, acting head of Westmoreland; Superintendent Andrew Nish of Hanover; and Superintendent Velonique Campbell of Trelawny.

Jamaica Constabulary Force figures show the Area One divisions — St James, Westmoreland, Hanover and Trelawny — logged 563 murders in 2018, the peak year in the period reviewed. By the close of 2025 the count stood at 135, a 76 per cent fall. Through July 18, 2026, the four divisions together had registered 68 murders: 38 in St James, 15 in Westmoreland, 10 in Hanover and five in Trelawny.

The data also show murders in Area One rose from 467 in 2017 to 563 in 2018, up 20.6 per cent. In 2019 the total plunged to 240, a 57.4 per cent cut. Killings then rose to 303 in 2020 (up 26.3 per cent), 352 in 2021 (up 16.2 per cent) and 413 in 2022 (up 17.3 per cent). The tally eased to 401 in 2023, down 2.9 per cent, then dropped to 297 in 2024, a 25.9 per cent reduction. The slide steepened in 2025, when murders fell another 54.5 per cent to 135.

Speaking to Area One personnel, Blake underlined how far the region’s crime picture has shifted. “Remember those days? Last year it was 135, coming from 563. That’s some amazing achievement,” the commissioner told officers.

He also highlighted gains in St James, long counted among Jamaica’s most dangerous divisions. “Last year at this time, we were celebrating because we had, I think, one month with one murder. That is unheard of for St James,” he said.

Blake nonetheless warned against easing up. “We can’t ever be satisfied until we get where we want to go,” he said, stressing that the Jamaica Constabulary Force still aims to bring the national murder rate in line with regional norms.

Area One has long ranked among Jamaica’s most violence-hit commands, fuelled mainly by heavy murder tallies in St James and Westmoreland. That turnaround carries weight given the region’s past. St James was, at times, gripped by gangs including Stone Crusher, Killer Bees and Flanker, while officers in Westmoreland, Hanover and Trelawny confronted entrenched groups tied to communities such as Kings Valley, Russia, Logwood, Cacoon, Warsop and Duncans.

Police attribute the decade-long murder plunge to ongoing intelligence-driven operations, focused anti-gang work and joint action across the four divisions. Those approaches will continue, they say, as the force readies for fresh security tests — among them the expected deportation of England, whose return is already on Area One commanders’ radar.