Police report 14% reduction murders

By Nakinskie Robinson    

 

The Jamaica Constabulary Force is reporting that there have been 49 fewer murders up to April 6 this year, than for the same period last year.

 

According to the JCF, 341 murders were recorded from January 1 to April 6, 2023, as against 292 for the corresponding period this year.

 

This represents a 14 per cent decline.

 

Anglican Bishop Dr. Howard Gregory has lauded the reduction but contends that policing is not solely responsible for the downturn. 

 

"We've gone through several holidays. What impact does holidays have? We have gone through the period of election, and we need to look at what happened during the period of campaigning, the period after election. Did that have any impact on it? But I really don't want to get caught up in whether the 49 is only a policing matter, because I keep saying the issue we face is bigger than just policing. And there are persons who say, if we only just bring down the statistics, the economy will do well and things will be alright. That is not true," he asserted on the Morning Agenda on Power 106 FM.

 

Bishop Gregory cautioned, however, against minimising the successes of the JCF, arguing that they similarly cannot bear sole responsibility when the numbers are rising.

 

He also acknowledged that there may be public scrutiny about the credibility of the statistics.

 

But in defending the numbers, Bishop Gregory argued that there is no need to further encourage a lack of trust in public institutions, like the JCF.

 

So far, St. James has recorded 40 murders, Westmoreland, 27, St. Catherine South, 25, and St. Andrew South and St. Andrew Central with 25 and 20 murders respectively.

 

St. Ann has recorded 20, so far.

 

Jamaica recorded 1,393 murders last year, a 7.8 per cent decline from the previous year.