Murders, shootings continue to decline, Commish warns against complacency

Jamaica’s murder rate is 20 per cent below last year’s historic low, but Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake says this is no time for celebration.

Shootings are also down 24 per cent this year from 452 over the comparative period last year.

The police recorded 349 murders across the country between January 1 and August 22, a reduction of 89 or 20 per cent when compared with the corresponding period last year, according to the latest statistics.

A total of 673 people were killed last year, marking the first time in over 30 years Jamaica recorded less than 700 killings.

The last time Jamaica recorded less than 700 murders in a calendar year was 1994 when the police data shows that 690 people were killed.

With four months remaining in the year, the police commissioner cautioned the men and women under his command to guard against the “temptation” to “ease off the throttle”.

“We cannot afford to do that,” Blake said in his weekly column in the Police Force Orders.

“Colleagues, the number matters, but behind every number is a Jamaican life, a family, a community and a future. Every life we save matters,” he added, while urging cops to remain focused, disciplined and act within the law.

Dr Blake insisted that the significant reduction in murders last year was not luck or accident, but the result of hard work and disciplined policing, better intelligence and stronger partnerships.

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