In 2020, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) recorded a 53 per cent clear up rate for homicides, compared to 39 per cent in 2019. Making the disclosure in the 2021/22 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on March 18, Prime Minister the Most Hon. Andrew Holness said cyber forensics and DNA evidence played a critical role in the clear...

The Government will be introducing two additional Zones of Special Operations (ZOSOs) this year, says Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness. ZOSOs are operational in Denham Town, West Kingston; Mount Salem, St. James; and Greenwich Town and August Town in St Andrew. “We are planning to add an additional two communities, and restructure the operation of one existing ZOSO,”...

Thirty-five Department of Correctional Services (DCS) employees have benefited from life skills training aimed at building the entity’s capacity to better interact with and intervene in the lives of juvenile offenders. The four-day training-of-trainers virtual workshop, which took place last month, included staff at the Metcalfe Street and South Camp juvenile remand and correctional centres in Kingston, Hilltop Juvenile Correctional...

Government is in the process of updating the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Act to effectively combat human trafficking. “We are currently in the process of preparing further amendments just to ensure that the legislation remains in line with current realities,” said Chairman of the National Taskforce Against Trafficking in Person (NATFATIP), Courtney Williams. He was speaking at a virtual Jamaica...

The Ministry of National Security, on Wednesday (March 10), unveiled the report of the 2019 Jamaica National Crime Victimisation Survey (JNCVS), which measures and documents citizens’ perception of security in Jamaica. The report incorporates information on the extent to which persons may have been victims of 14 categories of crimes between September 2018 and August 2019. The fifth such household...

The Ministry of National Security today convened its first Correctional Services Technical Working Group (CSTWG) meeting to address the findings of an investigation into the Rio Cobre Juvenile Correctional Centre by the Independent Commission of Investigation (INDECOM) in July 2020. While the general findings of the investigation highlighted positive aspects of the juvenile facility, INDECOM alleged several incidents of inappropriate...

The Ministry of National Security (MNS) is developing a Citizen Security Portal, which is aimed at engaging Jamaicans at the community level. The portal is part of the Citizen Security Plan (CSP), being coordinated by the newly established Citizen Security Secretariat (CSS), which will support and build on the existing work that is being undertaken to improve citizen security by...