On August 18, 2014, Cabinet appointed a Sub-committee led by the Ministers of National Security and Justice to review the detention system and to develop a strategic response to the issue of the treatment of persons in lock-ups and correctional facilities, including the necessary infrastructural modifications. Consequently, a meeting of the Sub-committee was convened on August 28, 2014, to address...

The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) has reported an 8.2 per cent decrease in the murder rate for the period January to June 2014. The PIOJ’s Deputy Director General, Richard Lumsden, says the rate declined to 18.2 per 100,000 of the population, down from 19.9 for the corresponding period in 2013. Murder is treated as a Category One crime, in...

Cabinet received an update from the Minister of National Security, Hon. Peter Bunting, on the Mario Deane incident and the short-term measures being implemented to minimise the likelihood of a recurrence of such incidents, on Monday, August 18. A Sub Committee of the Cabinet headed by the National Security Minister along with the Minister of Justice, Sen. Hon. Mark Golding,...

Tangible changes are being made within the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) that will improve the professionalism of the police as well as put measures in place to reduce arrests for minor offences. Minister of National Security, Hon. Peter Bunting, made the declaration in response to questions posed by journalists surrounding the death of St. James resident Mario Deane, during Tuesday’s (August...

The Minister of National Security, the Hon. Peter Bunting is to receive from the Acting Commissioner of Police, by Monday the latest, a report on new arrangements for the care and protection of persons in police custody. This in response to a directive from the Minister to the Police High Command last Thursday, within hours of learning of the death...

The Minister of National Security, Hon. Peter Bunting, MP, views with grave concern, reports of Mario Deane, an inmate of the Barnett Street Police Station in St. James, succumbing to injuries received while in police custody. According to the police, Deane, who was charged for possession of a small quantity of marijuana, was attacked by fellow inmates on August 3,...

National Security Minister, Hon. Peter Bunting, says there is increased intensity and focus on addressing corruption and organised crime. “If you look at what has happened over the last couple of years… there has been no period when so many public officials, professionals, (including lawyers, engineers, businessmen, persons in the tax department, policemen, politicians) have been charged by either MOCA...