Portland Has Lowest Murder Rate

Portland is the country’s safest parish, with the lowest murder rate at 10 per 100,000 population, the latest crime statistics have revealed.

The figures, for the period January 1 to September 20, were announced by National Security Minister, Hon. Peter Bunting on Thursday, September 25, at the annual general meeting of the Realtors Association of Jamaica, held at the New Kingston business centre.

St. Thomas follows closely with 15 murders per 100,000; St. Elizabeth, 16; Manchester, 18; St. Ann, 21; St. Mary 26; Trelawny, 30; Westmoreland 34, and Clarendon, 35.

This is followed by St. Catherine at 41 per 100,000 population; Kingston and St. Andrew at 44; Hanover at 52; and St. James, with a rate of 77 per 100,000 population.

Minister Bunting said the rates for parishes such as Portland, St. Thomas, St. Elizabeth and Manchester, fall well below the average rate for the Caribbean.

“So (if you’re) living in Manchester (for example) you’re not exposed to a higher average crime rate than if you lived in the rest of the Caribbean,” he said.
Minister Bunting outlined to the realtors and other industry stakeholders, the slate of crime prevention and crime fighting measures that the Government has implemented and continues to roll-out.

These include: deploying more police personnel on the ground, and increasing police posts; the merger of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the Island Special Constabulary Force; and the merger of the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption (MOCA) Task Force, and the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB).

He also cited the beefing up of the police’s fleet of vehicles to enable quick response to incidents; and enacting new laws such as the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisations) Bill (Anti-gang Bill), and the Law Reform (Fraudulent Transactions) (Special Provisions) Act (Anti-Lottery Scam Act).