Assistant Commissioner of Police Michael Phipps
Assistant Commissioner Michael Phipps, head of the Area 4 Police
Commander for the Area 4 Police, Assistant Commissioner Michael Phipps, says increased targeted operations against criminal gangs and reputed area leaders have resulted in a significant reduction in serious crimes and the seizure of hundreds of illegal weapons in the Corporate Area.
ACP Phipps notes that a number of suspects linked to murders, shootings and robberies have been captured over the last several weeks.
Several others have been killed in reported confrontation with the police.
“At this time, Area 4 is seeing a 30 per cent reduction in all categories of major crimes for this year when compared to the corresponding period of 2024. As a matter of fact, so far this year we have had a total of 386 reported Category 1 crimes when compared to 553 for the similar period of 2024. This is suggesting that we have 167 less reported Category 1 crimes over the corresponding period of 2024,” he outlined.
ACP Phipps said Area 4, which covers the St. Andrew South, St. Andrew Central, Kingston Eastern and Kingston Western police divisions, has a 70 per cent clear up rate for murders.
He added that a large number of arms and ammunition have been seized so far this year.
“In 2024 we had a total of 133 recovered firearms, and if you compare that with 215 for this period 2025, that is showing us that we have recovered some 82 more firearms across all divisions. In terms of the recovery of ammunition, for 2024, this time last year, we recovered some 1,919 assorted ammunition, and so far this year we have recovered some 6,633, which is reflecting an increase of over 4,714 more ammunition for the corresponding period 2025,” he touted.