South St. Andrew murders fall by half as police credit community partnerships

South St. Andrew, long among Jamaica’s deadliest police divisions, is seeing its sharpest fall in killings in decades, Senior Superintendent Damian Manderson says, after years of community outreach and targeted enforcement.

Murders in the division have declined every year since 2021, when the count stood at 164. From January 1 to July 12 this year, killings fell from 50 to 25 compared with the same span in 2025 — a 50% drop — while the share of murder cases cleared rose by 21%.

On the Jamaica Constabulary Force podcast Force for Good, Manderson said the turnaround grew from rebuilding trust in communities hit by gang crime. When he arrived in 2021, he said, the division faced numerous gang conflicts, including killings of children and women. With the then commander and team, officers treated South St. Andrew as a project after finding more than 75 active gangs — the most of any subdivision — plus widespread firearms used even in domestic disputes.

The division covers more than 20 urban communities, among them Waterhouse, Olympic Gardens, Sea View Gardens, Pineland, Whitfield Town, Riverton and Cockburn Pen. In 2020, National Security Minister Dr. Horace Chang told Parliament that 78 of Jamaica’s 389 identified gangs — 20.1% — operated there, the highest share of any police division. Area 4, which includes South St. Andrew, Central Kingston, West Kingston, East Kingston and Central St. Andrew, held nearly two-thirds of known gangs islandwide.

States of emergency followed repeated spikes. In 2019, Prime Minister Andrew Holness ranked South St. Andrew among the country’s most dangerous areas for murders and shootings, with more than 25 gangs in lethal conflict. From January 2017 to July 2019, the subdivision logged over 400 murders.

Manderson said the rebound began before the national homicide decline, through internal strengthening and street-level engagement. The division closed 2025 with 74 homicides — the first annual total below 100 in nearly 20 years.

Area Commander ACP Michael Phipps said Area 4 murders fell from 342 in 2024 to 181 in 2025, a drop of 161 he linked to intelligence-led policing, deterrence, technology and community work, while urging officers not to ease off.

In separate remarks on Instagram on Monday, Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton again warned public-hospital administrators they will face accountability after nurses at the University Hospital of the West Indies protested poor conditions last month. He criticised consultants who fail to work contracted 28-hour weeks, delayed ward transfers from crowded emergency departments, weak patient communication, and managers who do not inspect facilities.

Meanwhile, the Portland Municipal Corporation pledged action on illegal vending choking traffic and sidewalks in Port Antonio after a Thursday stakeholders’ meeting. Mayor Paul Thompson said disorder worsened after the May 23, 2023 Musgrave Market fire left about 200 traders without stalls, pushing many onto Lower and Upper West Streets, William Street and Harbour Street. Officials are discussing a move to the old Jamaica Agricultural Society building on Harbour Street once dilapidated structures are demolished. Businessman Oddly Lindo pressed for a lasting fix to garbage, illegal parking, blocked walks and homelessness; Superintendent Raymond De Grant urged removal of illegal signs and stricter no-parking enforcement for emergency access. Thompson said police and municipal officers will join an inspection tour and a Fire Brigade sidewalk clean-up.