The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected all corners of Jamaica but despite the challenges the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), has mitigated the effects admirably says the Sen. the Hon. Matthew Samuda, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of National Security. He noted that the institutions relative success is partly due to foresight. “The sensitization to the potential threat began...

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...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the use of States of Public Emergency (SOEs) has worked to reduce murders and shootings wherever they have been deployed. “I remain proud of the fact that this Administration was able to deploy and implement a framework to enable our security forces to use extraordinary powers and enhanced measures without doing violence...

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...