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A sum of $6 million has been earmarked in the 2012-2013 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives, for the Jamaica National Crime Victimisation Survey. The project is being implemented by the Ministry of National Security, with support funding from the United Kingdom Department of International Development (DFID). Objectives under the programme, which is scheduled to run from...

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Jamaica, Robert Fuderich, has made an appeal for the region to "break the silence" surrounding child abuse to end the scourge, which is affecting a significant number of children. He informed that an estimated six million children in Latin America and the Caribbean suffer severe abuse, including abandonment, and 80,000 children die each...

Persons who use mobile phones while driving will soon face fines, with the promulgation of new legislation by the end of 2012, which will make the practise illegal. Making the announcement recently, Minister of Transport, Works and Housing, Hon. Dr. Omar Davies, said when the Act is passed, Jamaica will have a modernised Road Traffic Act and regulations predicated on...

Police Commissioner, Owen Ellington, has endorsed the community safety project being executed by the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development in collaboration the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The project, titled: ‘Enhancing Civil Participation and Local Governance for Community Safety’, is a two-year initiative, which seeks to take a citizen security approach to developing sustainable long-term strategies focusing on...

Police Commissioner, Owen Ellington is suggesting that issues related to public vending, night commerce, and night entertainment be urgently addressed under a special safety and security project.  The two-year project dubbed: ‘Enhancing Civil Society Participation in Local Governance for Community Safety’ is being jointly implemented by the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development and the United Nations Development Programme...

Minister with responsibility for Information, Senator the Hon. Sandrea Falconer, has expressed optimism about the actions being taken by the Police to squash the lottery scam, which in recent months has tainted the country’s image overseas. “The level of law enforcement against lottery scammers has been stepped up. I believe that the police are making major inroads into this illegal...

Since the start of the year, the parish of St. Elizabeth has seen a 24 per cent reduction in major crimes, with a 38 per cent drop in the murder rate, over the same period of 2011. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Derrick Cochrane, who heads the Area Three Police Division, credited the improvement to the hard work of the...

The Ministry of National Security will be seeking the support of the Ministry of Tourism, in launching a public education campaign to sensitise Jamaicans about the sophistry of lottery scamming. The campaign will be undertaken nationally, with special focus on the resort town of Montego Bay, from which the scammers operate. “We have to be aware that these criminals have...

The police will be putting 16 new sport utility vehicles (SUVs) into service across seven divisions in resort areas, immediately, following the handing over of the units by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) to the Commissioner of Police, Owen Ellington, at his Old Hope Road offices, on May 7. The Suzuki vehicles, which were purchased at a total cost of...

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in charge of St. Andrew Central, Derrick Knight, is calling on parents to more strictly monitor the activities of their children, noting that too many are engaging in inappropriate behaviours such as smoking and drinking. “Parents, you know the challenges the police face with the children when they leave the home. We (police) are finding...

Residents of Trench Town and Tivoli Gardens in Kingston are to benefit from the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practices in resolving conflicts, which is expected to foster peace among citizens in the areas. This will be achieved through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was signed on April 26 between the Dispute Resolution Foundation (DRF) and representatives of...

Eleven new communities are benefitting from social intervention and violence prevention initiatives under the Citizen, Security and Justice Programme (CSJP). The additions bring the total number of communities now being served under the programme to 50. The new communities are: Majesty Gardens, Whitehall Gardens/Red Hills Road, Maverly and Seaview Gardens in the Kingston and St. Andrew region; Central Village, Gordon...