St. Andrew South murders fall by half as Area Four cuts killings sharply

Murders in the St. Andrew South Division have fallen by half compared with the same period last year, Senior Superintendent Damian Manderson and Area Four Commander Assistant Commissioner Michael Phipps said in a Force for Good discussion hosted by Senior Superintendent Dennis Brooks of the Constabulary Communication Network.

Area Four covers the Corporate Area outside St. Andrew North — Kingston Central, Kingston Western, St. Andrew South, St. Andrew Central and Kingston Eastern — and police about 260 gangs. ACP Phipps said murders across the area fell from 342 in 2024 to 181 in 2025, a drop of 161 killings, or more than 40 per cent. He credited intelligence-led policing, focused deterrence, community support and technology, and noted that a relatively new command team delivered the result, including Deputy Superintendents Mike Harris in St. Andrew Central and Brian Henry in Kingston Western, who were placed in charge of super divisions.

SSP Manderson joined St. Andrew South on 18 August 2021, arriving amid gang violence that included the killing of children and women. The division then had more than 75 active gangs, the most of any division islandwide, with firearms used even in basic disputes. He said the force treated the division as a project — strengthening staff, winning residents’ confidence and policing with the consent of people who want law and order. Murders have fallen steadily since the division closed 2021 with about 164. Last year it broke below 100 and finished on 70 after a mid-year push, when the count sat at 50 and many doubted the target was reachable. Officers shared those goals openly with communities to secure buy-in.

Community contact has been central. Manderson pointed to late-night street football in Greenwich Farm that drew more than 1,000 people, small spot meetings and church street gatherings, saying officers meet residents where they are rather than ticking boxes. Greenwich Farm has gone nearly two years without a murder, he said, after sustained engagement that helped break old lines of demarcation; a deputy superintendent now leads the policing team there. He also credited an all-hands investigative approach under DSP Barrett with 35 cases cleared versus 29 at this point last year, and about 144 clear-ups so far this year, up from roughly 16 in 2021–2022.

ACP Phipps said Area Four shifts resources through round-robin operations to divisions under pressure and holds regular tasking meetings so every team knows the picture. Operation Iron Shield, launched on 14 June, intensifies suppression, prevention and performance management in hotspot communities. The area is 28 murders below last year and is aiming to finish under 120 — a historic low for a zone that long recorded Jamaica’s highest murder totals. Kingston Western logged a murder-free month under the push. Phipps urged St. Andrew South officers not to relax, saying the division is turning the corner but is not yet at the finish line.