Gangster turns neighbourhood cop - Area leader imposes nightly curfew to ‘protect’ youths

A self-admitted gang leader says he has imposed an informal curfew across his inner-city community, claiming that the move is meant to protect residents -- especially young men -- from violence and deadly encounters with the police.

Known as Mike*, the man told THE STAR that youths are no longer allowed to roam the streets after dark under his watch. He also pushes them to go straight home after school or work, discouraging loitering, which he believes puts them directly in harm's way.

"Same like the police, my job affi serve and protect," Mike said.

He insists that the rules are rooted in protection, not control, even as he reflects uneasily on the life he has lived.

"Am I proud of the life I lived? I don't know the answer to that," he admitted. "But right now, the youths trust me more than dem trust the system."

Anyone who ignores the directive, he said, does so at their own risk.

"Once you don't listen, you can't say you under me. You out there by yourself."

Gang-related violence has long accounted for a significant share of Jamaica's homicides. Last year, the country recorded 673 murders -- the lowest figure in 31 years following a 41 per cent decline when compared with the previous year. That massive drop coincided with a reduction in the number of active gangs and a sharp rise in police fatal shootings.

According to National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang, there were 85 gangs operating islandwide last year, down from 120 in 2024. In 2020, the National Intelligence Bureau had identified as many as 389 gangs.

Police fatal shootings also surged. In 2025, three hundred and eleven people were killed by the police -- a 65 per cent increase over the previous year.

For Mike, his self-appointed role is about guarding residents not only from rival gunmen but also from what he describes as bad cops.

"The statistics nah go tell yuh how many youths live in fear for them life," he said. "Prevention better than cure."

But criminologist and police officer Dr Jason McKay, attached to the St Catherine South Police Division's Special Operations Unit, rejected Mike's claims outright.

"They are just mongrels. They don't do anything in any shape or form to benefit anybody but themselves," McKay said.

He argued that gangs represent only a tiny fraction of any community, yet their actions stain entire neighbourhoods.

"Everybody gets mistreated because of them. People don't want to employ residents because of their address, and it's the behaviour of a few -- not the group as a whole," he added.

Mike, however, says the killings of children and innocent bystanders have strengthened his resolve to intervene. The deaths, he said, cut deeply.

"People might see me and think me heartless, but dem likkle things deh sit with you, and you question it," he said.

"There are no safe spaces any more -- not even inside people's homes."

"It's not just fear of police. It's fear of chaos and mass destruction. A point reach weh protection and self-preservation start overlap."

Mike became visibly emotional when speaking about boys he has known since childhood.

"People think mi nuh notice dem because of the stigma," he said. "But when I see dem take school serious or get a work, it show me seh dem have more in dem than street life."

His greatest fear now, he said, is losing one of those youths.

"Somebody affi dweet, and the idea that every youth must pick up badness just because dem grow in badness -- that can be debunked. It nuh affi go so."

As for his own future, Mike says he has already made peace with whatever comes.

If them ketch me, dem ketch me. Mi live this life long time fi know how it end. i walk di road, enuh, so dem have a choice, and I can help dem to make that choice," he said.

*Name changed to protect identity.