Headlines:
| Police statistics confirm a surge in crime in 2007 |
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| Saturday, 19 January 2008 | |
 The
crime statistics for last year is cause for concern for the police high
command.Deputy Commissioner of police in charge of Crime, Mark Shields, on Saturday told RJR News that he is dissatisfied with the figures. He however noted that 2007 presented special challenges to policing and called on Jamaicans to participate more in the effort to stem crime in the country. He pledged that the police will be working overtime this year to drive the numbers down. Meanwhile, the release of the statistics has confirmed what most Jamaicans already knew, murders continued unabated last year. Official statistics confirmed that 1,574 persons were murdered. This was 17 per cent above the murder figure for 2006. According to data released by the police Saturday, the 2007 murder total included 146 women, 65 children and 19 members of the police force. The year saw 82 double murders, 10 triple murders and five instances when four or more persons were killed in one incident. As usual the gun was used in the majority of murders, 79 per cent, with knives used in 12 per cent of the cases. The police report that they managed to clear up just over a third of the murder cases but there is no indication of how many persons were successfully convicted of murder during the year. A month by month break down shows November being the bloodiest with 166 persons being murdered. December was also bad with 154 persons killed and January with 149. February had the least murders, 98. The St. Andrew South Police Division, which includes the tough inner city communities of Olympic Gardens, Waterhouse, Drewsland, Seaview Gardens, Riverton City, and sections of Maxfield Avenue recorded the most murders for the year with 209. St. James was not far behind with 187 murders followed by St. Catherine North which covers Spanish Town and its environs where 164 persons were killed. Clarendon was the other rural police division to exceed the 100 murder mark with 119 killings. Portland and Trelanwy were the parishes with the fewest murders, each with 21, followed by Hanover with 23. Despite the alarming numbers, 2005 remains the bloodiest year on record, with 1,674 persons being murdered. And, the official crime stats confirm an increase in fatal shootings by the police. The figures show 272 fatal shooting by the police in 2007, up from 227 the previous year and 168 in 2005. The incidents of gunmen challenging members of the security forces is also up with 1,441 cases last year, up from 1,341 the previous year. Reported cases of rape declined by four per cent in 2007 when compared to 2006, while the number of carnal abuse cases inched down by two per cent. The police also report a 20 per cent decline in reported robbery cases. |