| KINGSTON, May 20 (JIS): |
 Minister
of National Security, Dr. Peter Phillips has said that the Anti-Crime
Initiative that was put in place in December 2002, made some progress
with the reduction of five of seven major crimes during the calendar
year 2003.Dr. Phillips who was making his contribution to the 2004/05 Sectoral Debate in Gordon House on Wednesday (May 19) said that the reductions were seen in murder, shooting, robbery, break-ins and larceny. Turning to the other two crimes, Minister Phillips said that rape remained at the same level as the previous year and carnal abuse also went up. He pointed out that the calendar year was trending downward in the right direction. He however, disclosed that since the year 2004, the crime rate had increased. Dr. Phillips said that for the first four and a half months of 2004, the data showed that there had been increases in all seven categories of major crimes when compared with the corresponding period last year. The Minister said that unless the trend was arrested quickly and reversed the country would be in a worse position than at the end of 2003. He cited that the figures, especially for murder and shooting, were trending in the wrong direction. He informed that analysis of the data showed the majority of murders occurred in limited geographic location. Supporting this analysis, he said that between January 1 and May 16, 2004, the Kingston Metropolitan Region (KMR), including St. Andrew and St. Catherine, was responsible for 64 per cent or 293 of the murders, with St. Catherine accounting for 24 per cent or 108 of total murders. Comparable to rural Jamaica, Minister Phillips said that there were 36 per cent murders committed in these parishes. St. James, he said, contributed approximately to one third of rural murders (45 out of 162), and Clarendon, with the second highest contributed to seven per cent of total murders. He noted that St. Andrew Central recorded a significant decline in murders, decreasing by 36 per cent (from 45 down to 29) and St. Elizabeth, down by 67 per cent (from eight to two). Further analysis of the data, he said, also showed clearly that the majority of murders being committed were a result of the inability of persons to resolve disputes without resorting to violence. He said that so far this year, 242 persons were killed as a result of reprisal actions or disputes that had been settled by violent means, accounting for 53 per cent of all murders. Reprisals accounted for 29 per cent (132), and domestic disputes accounted for 24 per cent (110) of the murders. |
