In the past few days the sweep to find and charge ‘Gang Members’ has begun again. And so far this year (2023) at least 5 persons have been charged with being a member of a gang.
In the past 5 days there have been several arrests;
21-year-old Jamaal Herbert was charged with being a member of the ‘George Street Gang’ (photo above )
23-year-old Fitzroy Gerald Myles was charged with being a member of the ‘George Street Gang’ (photo above )
24-year-old Clent Egbert of Baracat Street was also charged and jailed with being a member of a gang.(photo above )
In Law, the official title of the amendment that gang-members are violating is titled “The Crime Control and Criminal Justice Act”, and it was tabled, debated and passed by the House Of Representatives in the early months of 2018.
The amendments were introduced to, add to, and redefine current laws to tackle the increase in gang-related crimes.
And so after much commentary and cries from the victims families and the general public, appealing to the government and law-enforcement, the new amendments then went to the Senate for approval and was passed into law.
On page 4 of the 35 page amendment document, the definition of a Gang, a Gang Leader and Gang Member is articulated.
But are the young men charged with being a member of a gang understand that the law was specifically crafted to thwart their activity, and do they realize how high the price will be if you are found guilty of being a gang member.
About 6 months ago (October 2022) 4 reputed gang-figures were sentenced to 18 months in prison for being a member of a gang.
There have been many other detentions of gang-figures, and they all face lengthy court proceedings to challenge the charge of being in a gang.
Ref: Law, “The Crime Control and Criminal Justice Act”