The safety of students and staff at the Edwin Allen High School in Frankfield, Clarendon is now a major priority for the Clarendon Police as gang violence intensifies in the community.

Over the weekend, several stalls near the school were torched in what is alleged to be an act of reprisal following a police operation that resulted in the seizure of nine millimetre cartridges from one of the stalls.

The fire also follows Friday's murder of 26-year-old Ricardo ‘Ticka’ Anderson in Frankfield in reprisal for the September killing of Kirtude Jermaine Giscombe, also called ‘Scabby’.

Two people have been taken into custody for Giscombe's murder while another three have been held in relation to the seizure of the cartridges last week.

The Head of Operations for the Clarendon Police, Superintendent Carol McKenzie, says the police will have to step up their operations in Frankfield.

He has identified the Grantham and Waterworks areas of Frankfield as the major hotspots.

At least four murders have ben recorded in the Frankfield area in recent months as well as numerous reports of shooting.

Last month, North West Clarendon Member of Parliament Richard Azan appealed to the Clarendon police to suppress the criminal gangs operating in Frankfield.

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