JAMAICA: St Elizabeth healing with Crime Rate Drop, Road Safety Rising

Jamaica: Major crimes are down by a significant 32 percent in St Elizabeth, according to Superintendent Coleridge Minto, head of the Police Division in the parish.

Minto gave a detailed breakdown of the latest crime statistics during the handover of a housing unit under the New Social Housing Programme (NSHP) at Donegal on July 19. Shootings in the parish have declined by 12 percent, robberies by 27 percent, while aggravated assaults and break-ins have dropped by 33 percent and 52 percent respectively.

However, the parish has recorded four more murders compared to the same period last year, while the number of rape cases remains unchanged.

Superintendent Minto added that the reduction in several major crimes is a sign for optimism regarding effective police enforcement and enhanced public safety measures, but also attests to the fact that police operational activities across the parish will continue unremittingly to safeguard this trend.

The increase in murder has been specifically attributed to reasons like domestic violence and gangsterism. “St Elizabeth lies between some of the other police divisions where we have persons moving across various borders,” Superintendent Minto explained.

He further added that with the backing of Area 3 and the Specialized Operations team from Kingston, it is trying to arrest this rising trend of murders over the next few weeks.

Along with enhancements in crime statistics, Superintendent Minto also reported major advancements in road safety. Fatal traffic crashes have gone from 21 to 15 percent, and fatalities from 23 to 17 percent as compared to the same period of last year. All that is credited to better operational efforts throughout the parish.

The division has also improved its traffic law enforcement focus. Traffic tickets written have jumped considerably from 6,202 to 21,065. Superintendent Minto underscored the move as part of a comprehensive strategy to improve public safety on a whole and road safety in St Elizabeth.