St. Andrew South police lift clearance rate to 144% amid multi-story midday roundup

The St. Andrew South Police Division reports that a planned focus on investigations, teamwork and community partnership has lifted its crime clearance rate to 144% this year. Senior Superintendent Damen Manderson, the commanding officer, said the gains follow years of work on training and leadership, after clearance stood at only 16% in 2021 and 2022.

Manderson said success comes from a deliberate, all-hands method in which operations, the community safety team and administration work together on crime solving. The division, he said, has also built investigative strength by developing officers and pairing veteran detectives with younger investigators, while leadership stays involved in major cases, including through case reviews he chairs as commanding officer. Mentorship, movement from constable to detective constable, and promotions, he added, help motivate ranks. Sustaining public trust and community ties will remain central as the division seeks to hold its gains.

Separately, Agassar Martin was fatally shot at a bar in Top Greenville, Mandeville, Manchester, last night. Another man was grazed by a bullet. Police say the circumstances are not yet clear, but Martin was known to them. Investigators said he was one of three men held over the stabbing death of 40-year-old William Granville outside Players Nightclub in Nashville, Mandeville, and that Martin had been reporting to police on that murder probe until he was killed. The shooting inquiry continues.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, speaking at the recently concluded Tourism Resilience Symposium, argued that Jamaica’s aim of 10 million visitors over the next decade and US$10 billion in yearly tourism earnings will lean heavily on community tourism, not only on building 20,000 new hotel rooms. “Tourism does not begin at the hotel gate. Tourism begins in the communities. So the hotel may accommodate the visitors, but the community gives the visitors Jamaica,” he said.

In markets, investors have kept buying Trans Jamaica Highway shares, with analysts citing stronger finances and the chance of higher tolls. Mayberry Investments senior investment adviser Christopher Thomas said the operator’s monopoly position and steady revenue growth have drawn buyers, and that higher tolls should lift profits because motorists have few practical alternatives.

US President Donald Trump has announced a new 50% tariff on Canada, using a 1930 trade law that allows tariffs of up to 50% without congressional approval where a country is seen as discriminating against American goods — a use not applied this way before. Some Canadian goods such as electrical equipment and machinery would be covered; critical minerals, fish and energy products would be excluded. The measures take effect in 30 days.

At the UN Security Council, the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia and China backed Haiti’s drive for long-delayed elections as a path to democracy and stability despite insecurity. Haitian officials hope voting can start before the end of 2026, saying seven of ten departments are ready for electoral work.

In Florida, officials are watching Tropical Storm Bertha move across the Gulf of Mexico. The second named storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season is forecast to bring heavy rain, gusty winds and coastal flood risk from Florida to Texas. Emergency teams remain on alert, while parts of Mississippi stay cautious after June floods. Dry air has so far limited strengthening.