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Chang denounces attempts to discredit JCF crime statistics

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National Security Minister Dr. Horace Chang
By Racquel Porter   
 
National Security Minister Dr. Horace Chang says attempts to discredit the Jamaica Constabulary Force's crime statistics, are disturbing.
 
Dr. Chang says the suggestion undermines the work of the police.
 
In a Gleaner article on Monday, a security expert, who spoke on condition of anonymity, challenged the validity of the murder figures, claiming that people who are shot and die after a protracted period of hospitalisation are often labelled as undetermined deaths and not murders.
 
But speaking with Radio Jamaica News on Wednesday, Dr. Chang said the method of accumulating statistics has been in use for more than a decade.
 
According to the JCF's latest crime statistics, some 692 murders have been recorded since the start of the year up to August 3, representing a 15.6 per cent year-on-year decline.
 
Similarly, shootings fell from 643 over the corresponding period last year to 629 in 2024. There have also been fewer recorded cases of rape, robberies and break-ins this year.
 
The security minister pointed out that when the figures were high, no one questioned the data.
 
"To seek to question those statistics now is undermining the work of the police. It is disrespectful of the police force and a democratic society because it could be considered as treacherous when violence is as high as it is today, quite frankly."
 
Dr. Chang further contended that questioning the crime data when it is finally starting to decline, is likely driven by narrow interest which seeks to undermine the police force, and is not in the best interest of the country.  
 
The minister said the reduction in crime is the result of the government's investments in national security. 
 
"There was a need to retool and expand the police force. We used some strong legislative measures, which has come under pressure from public, but the fact was we always accepted that we had to invest in the police. We have reached what we call the tipping point. The police is currently at its establishment by recruiting over 6,000 police officers in the last five years - young bright officers who do not see police as a job of large resort; they are committed to the cause and mission as professionals," he argued. 
 


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