Superintendent Carey Duncan
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Superintendent Carey Duncan, Commanding Officer for the Manchester Police Division
As the year winds down, the wave of declining crime figures across several police divisions is keeping pace, with the Manchester police touting a notable drop in murders.
However, law enforcement still warned that sustained vigilance will be needed to keep the numbers down.
According to data from the Jamaica Constabulary Force so far, St. Ann is the only parish recording an increase in murders.
Superintendent Carey Duncan, Commanding Officer for the Manchester Police Division, credited the downturn in his division to a series of prime reduction strategies.
However, he said the gains made in reducing major crimes overall, which includes murders, shootings, rape,
robberies, among others, are much smaller.
"We are seeing a marginal increase of four per cent in the entire category of major crimes," he noted.
There have been 18 fewer murders, a 37 per cent decline.
"Of the amount of murders committed this year, we are also seeing an 87 per cent clear up rate in our murders. That is to say that... if there is a murder committed in our space, certainly, somebody is being arrested and charged for that. We are also seeing 20 less shootings. That is a 47 per cent decline," said the senior officer.
Still, he said break-ins, in particular, have been a challenge for the police as cases increase. However, Superintendent Duncan asserted that the police have been unrelenting and their strategies have resulted in a steady decline in cases reported in the last month.
The superintendent was speaking at Thursday's meeting of the Manchester Municipal Corporation.
Break-ins as well as robberies are the only two segments under the major crimes category that have also increased nationally.
In early October, the National Security Ministry said the country was on track to record historic gains in reducing major crimes, pointing to Crime Stop and other policing tactics as evidence that strategies are taking hold.
Up to December 6, the country recorded 630 murders when compared with 1,092 for the same period in 2024.
That represents a 42 per cent drop for that same period.
Major crimes overall saw a 16 per cent drop when compared with last year.
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