Downtown Kingston Despair - Cops Walk Among Potential Victims As Robbers Wreak Havoc

Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer

A massive police operation has been under way in the commercial district of downtown Kingston as rampaging criminals carry out their promise to hold up and rob the very people who care for them whenever they wound each other - nurses, ward assistants and porters at the Kingston Public (KPH) and Victoria Jubilee (VJH) hospitals.

Another section of the busy Princess Street.

Not only are the hospital workers now at the mercy of well-armed boys, who police say are between 11 and 17, but vendors and buyers, including the elderly, are being held up and robbed at any hour of the day.

Crime-fighters say they are ending 2013 with a covert operation, involving a number of high-profile plain-clothes officers who have been milling among sellers and buyers to nab men from West Street, Matthews Lane, Luke Lane and other sections of west Kingston.

Special Sergeant Christopher Smith said the police have had some success, but there is much more to be done to put a dent in criminality in the area.

"They are coming in numbers same way, them not easing down," Smith said. read more