Downtown residents are pleading for the return of jailed Matthews Lane area leader, Donald 'Zekes' Phipps, after a spate of robberies has blanketed the area.
Although police were hesitant to link the robberies to the absence of Phipps, the crime officer in charge of the Kingston Central division, acting Deputy Superintendent Derrick Champagnie, attests that his absence may be a contributing factor to the recent spate of robberies."We have no empirical data to prove that it is because of Zekes' incarceration, but this may be a contributing factor ... We are arresting more outsiders coming from other areas such as South St. Andrew, Kingston West, East Kingston, and as far as St. Catherine," said Champagnie.
From the period of January 1-July 20, 2006, the area has seen 50 robberies. This is a 43 per cent increase from 35 reported cases in the same period, last year.
They say that although there is an increase of robberies in the downtown area, the removal of Zekes has returned control of downtown to police, allowing them to intensify operations, and clear up more cases. From these initiatives, police say they have been recovering an unusually high number of guns in the market area.
"We have been recovering a number of guns in the market area ... The addresses these persons give us include Arnett Gardens, Tivoli, and as far as Riverton City," confirmed Detective Corporal Delroy Grant, of the Kingston Central CIB.
But residents and business entities in downtown agree that without the 'street justice' that would normally be upheld by the imprisoned Matthews Lane leader, opportunity has risen for outside criminal elements to plague the area without recourse.
"Since dem take out di big man over Matches (Matthews Lane), robberies have increased, because he is not there to control the people," said Bahaeddin Alsanouri, a business owner on Orange Street, and victim of a recent robbery, of approximately.
$2 million worth of goods.
Police say on July 4, at about 1:00 p.m., Mr. Alsanouri had loaded a truck with goods along Luke Lane (the back of his business place). At 4 p.m. someone alerted the businessman that his truck had been broken into, and a large quantity of clothing had been stolen. Police say that the matter is being aggressively investigated, and some of the stolen goods (four boxes) have already been recovered.
But large business persons are not the only victims, as even vendors and market sellers have felt the blow of the unlawful state of the area. They say that times were better when Zekes was around.
"We ca'an do wi business again tru gunman start come in from all bout fi rob wi likkle money. Dem (police) tek out Fada Zekes weh gi wi protection, an now dat wi a suffer, dem ca'an help wi," said Ionie Brown, a female vendor from the Coronation Market.
The type of robberies range from large-scale larceny of goods, to smaller knife or gun point robberies, but the most common, police say, are robberies involving motor vehicles.
"We are seeing about two robberies each week, but many are not being reported due to fear ... We are mostly seeing stolen motor vehicles and larceny of motor vehicles (breaking into cars)," said Det. Corp. Grant.
Sources in the downtown area confirm that many robberies are indeed not being reported, some due to the victims being illegal immigrants to the country.
But even the victim of the $2 million robbery, Mr. Alsanouri, says that lack of opportunity, and overall poverty of the area, are the ultimate cause of the robbery spree plaguing downtown.
"Other than we need more police in the area, the lack of jobs is causing the robberies. Business have slowed down, and expenses have got higher, so there are far less jobs. I have four businesses in downtown, and three yeas ago I had 111 staff. Now I only have 39 staff, and if these people are suffering, they will turn to crime," explained Alsanouri.
But the efforts of police cannot be denied, as statistics are not just reflecting an increase in robberies, but also indicate that lawmen are indeed making aggressive steps to bring order to downtown.
Of the 50 robberies that occurred this year, the Kingston Central division has so far cleared up 35 of these cases. This is a dramatic increase from only four of the 35 cases of robbery being cleared up last year. They have maintained this trend, clearing up seven of the eight robberies that occurred last month.
Champagnie says that ever-changing strategies now being implemented by police have wrought the phenomenal clear-up rate for the division.
"We are taking a proactive approach to the matter. By using all our resources, and working with the Island Special Constabulary (Force), what we are doing is doing almost daily detailed analyses of places likely to be targeted, and implement strategies based on information analysis," said Champagnie,
Donald 'Zekes' Phipps was sentenced to life in prison for the April 2005 murders of Rodney Leroy Farqhuarson and Dayton Williams of Bayshore Park in East Kingston.
