THE KINGSTON EASTERN police say they are clamping down on the number of bus robberies that have been taking place on the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) buses travelling along Windward Road, Kingston.
According to the Kingston Eastern police, in recent weeks, several men have been arrested while one was shot and killed after they attempted to rob JUTC buses. The Kingston Eastern police said most of the men held will be charged in upcoming weeks as they were pointed out in identification parades.
"They were robbing several buses over the past few months and we have caught up with them," said Deputy Superintendent of Police(DSP) Doric Sinclair, commanding officer for east Kingston.
"One was shot and killed while we have taken others into custody. The ones that have been placed on identification parades were pointed out and will be arrested and charged shortly," DSP Sinclair said.
The police said the men operate by coming on board the buses as passengers. When the buses near specific locations along Windward Road, the men rob the passengers and conductors before getting off.
DSP Sinclair said they implemented new strategies to deal with this problem and it has paid off.
"We know that Christmas is coming, and we wanted to ensure that the robberies did not increase, so we implemented a new strategy," he said. He added that in the last incident one week ago, a man was shot and killed and a firearm recovered after he and two other men held up and attempted to rob a bus.
"We were alerted and we shot and killed one of the men while two escaped. We have held others because citizens have been cooperating as well," said DSP Sinclair.
DSP Sinclair could not say if the men held were part of a gang, but said that the police were working to stamp out the practise. He added that the men seem to target only JUTC buses as they have received no reports from other buses along the route.
He has issued a warning to would be robbers who may still be tempted to board buses.
"Anybody who goes on the buses and try to rob them we will be dealing with them as we are serious about stamping out the robberies," he said.
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