Police in Portland say they have identified an organised criminal group believed to be responsible for a series of commercial break-ins across Portland, St Mary and St Ann, with investigators crediting coordinated policing efforts for disrupting the network.  Commanding Officer Superintendent Kinsley McCarthy, speaking during the Police Commissioner’s Area 2 Town Hall Meeting, said members of the group were recently arrested and charged in St Ann, bringing temporary relief to communities that had experienced repeated burglaries.  “There is a group that has been creating a burden right across all three parishes in Area Two. Their modus operandi is breaking into establishments, especially establishments which have poker boxes,” he said. McCarthy identified several members of the group, noting that some were already in custody while others remained at large and continued to be the focus of police operations.  He said that John Bennett, otherwise called ‘Badby’, and Rolando Thomas, otherwise called ‘Lando’, were in custody, while other suspected members were still being pursued. McCarthy said the Portland police took the unusual step of publishing the suspects’ photographs and names on the division’s Facebook page after the arrests in St Ann, with the aim of alerting residents to the group’s alleged activities. McCarthy said police would continue monitoring the suspects and others believed to be involved in organised property crimes, as the division intensifies intelligence-led operations aimed at preventing commercial burglaries and dismantling criminal networks operating across parish boundaries. Meanwhile, the Portland police say they are on course to record fewer than six murders this year. McCarthy said the division had initially set itself a target of nine murders for the year before revising that figure downward as crime continued to decline. Speaking during a divisional performance review, McCarthy said the division had previously gone 99 consecutive days without recording a murder before a recent homicide. Despite that setback, McCarthy expressed confidence that the division could finish the year with even fewer murders than originally anticipated.  “When we came, we said we were looking at a 40 per cent reduction to seven murders, and during discussion we were told that we were being a bit ambitious. But as it stands now, Sir, we are on course to go below seven”. Following an exchange with Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake during the presentation, McCarthy raised the division’s ambition even further. “The revised target is six, but we’re looking at five,” he said. McCarthy said the division’s performance reflected a proactive policing strategy focused on preventing violence before it occurred. He noted that most of Portland’s murders this year stemmed either from interpersonal conflicts or victims involved in criminal activity, allowing police to concentrate resources on known risks. McCarthy said the division had identified several priority offenders who, although no longer listed on the national high-risk target’s workbook, remained under scrutiny at the divisional level because of their potential to generate violence. He said police would continue to pursue a strategy centred on focused deterrence, community engagement and intelligence-led operations to preserve the gains already made.