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“The gang in Tivoli was supreme but it had satellites
elsewhere. The Presidential Click was well organised and
well-armed. Coke ruled Tivoli Gardens with an iron fist. The
penalties for breach of the principles he laid down included
death. There were also beatings and shootings…….Under
“Jim Brown”, the role of the gang was political, defending
the
status quo
of the political party (JLP). Under “Dudus”, it
changed to a criminal enterprise, with a heavy concentration
on amassing weapons.”
2.11.
Commissioner of Police Ellington (CoP) and Chief of Defence Staff
Major General Saunders (CDS), in a joint letter to Prime Minister Golding on
17 June 2010, also adverted to the subculture of gangs and the threats, which
they were posing to national security.
Inter alia
, these Heads of the security
forces wrote:
“There are currently 257 active gangs operating in Jamaica.
These active gangs traditionally operate along political lines
but in recent times they have collaborated and in some case
fight with gangs of the same political persuasion. The most
active, organised and motivated gang operating in Jamaica
is the Tivoli Gardens Gang……There are several other gangs
in Jamaica but they do not possess the same level of
organisation, command and control, weaponry or funding as
the Tivoli Gardens Gang. The gangs are funded by
extortion, proceeds from the sales of drugs, guns and
ammunition that they use to perpetuate their criminal acts.
The areas of greatest gang concentration are Kingston and
St. Andrew, St. Catherine, Clarendon and St. James. Gang
activities account for the greatest amount of murders in
Jamaica in the last six years”.
Their letter further stated:
“Over the years the gangs, having greater access to money,
have significantly bolstered their weapons arsenals and are
in some cases better resourced than the security forces…”
2.12.
In the book “
Gangs in the Caribbean – Responses of State and
Society
” (published in 2015 by the University of the West Indies Press), one of