Crime is a Cancer in Jamaica

 Leaders are often culpable for creating the misconception that crime can be easily resolved. This notion is misleading. Issues such as high crime rates, which have developed over many years, do not dissipate overnight, regardless of financial investments. When crime is swiftly addressed, it frequently resurfaces in different areas. High crime rates shift from one location to another when aggressive measures are implemented. This phenomenon results in a persistent social, political, and economic challenge, leading to blame-shifting among political figures. Pursuing a genuine solution is often neglected, leaving the public in a state of silence.

Major crimes, particularly murder, have troubled Jamaica for decades. It stands out as one of the most violent countries in the Caribbean, with approximately 52.9 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants reported in 2022. In response to this grim reality, the United States issued a travel advisory for 2024, while the UK warned its citizens in 2022 to exercise caution when visiting areas such as West Kingston, Grant’s Pen, August Town, Harbour View, Spanish Town, and certain neighborhoods in Montego Bay, including Flankers, Barrett Town, Norwood, Glendevon, Rose Heights, and Mount Salem. Westmoreland is quickly establishing itself as the crime capital of Jamaica, highlighting the challenging situation faced by this small nation.

From the perspective of the Jamaican Diaspora, one of the most frequently posed questions to government officials during various forums, town halls, panel discussions, and radio programs is: when will crime be resolved? The public is eager for quick solutions. However, officials, aware of the complex reality, often find it challenging to respond directly and honestly. Instead, they tend to provide evasive answers to placate the public and mitigate potential outrage.

The truth is that crime in Jamaica, as in any country, cannot be resolved solely through militaristic strategies, verbal warnings, new or stricter laws, or the reintroduction of the death penalty. Crime will not diminish through ineffective States of Emergency, underutilized technology, or merely increasing police presence on the streets. Instead, reducing crime necessitates developing carefully crafted strategies that address the underlying issues and implement effective policing tactics.

Crime in Jamaica is akin to "metastasized stage-four pancreatic cancer." While minor reductions may exist in certain areas, the overarching problem continues to spiral out of control. However, unlike aggressive pancreatic cancer, there is still hope.

Reducing crime is a challenging endeavor. Effective strategies are required to achieve a consistent decline in crime rates over time, supported by a commitment to well-executed principles. Celebrating minor reductions can seem misguided. One morning, you might awaken to the news: "Jamaica travel warning issued after 65 murders in just four weeks" (New York Times), and the next, "Last week was the bloodiest in Jamaica this year, with 44 murders recorded" (The Jamaica Gleaner). This contrasts sharply with announcements like, "Jamaica has seen a substantial decline in major crimes during the second quarter of 2024" (The Jamaica Constabulary Force). To claim that crime is reduced by small percentages, followed by sharp increases, is unjustified. Only a sustained downward trend over an extended period truly warrants celebration.

Examine the patterns of crime reduction rates in the USA since 1990. This analysis is not meant to compare Jamaica to the US but rather to highlight the significance of crime reduction and when successes should be acknowledged. In New York, there has been a consistent decline in crime rates from 1990 to 2013, with murders decreasing from 2,262 to 390. By 2022, the total number of murders was recorded at 372.

• 1990: 2,262 murders
• 2000: 673 murders
• 2010: 536 murders
• 2017: 292 murders
• 2018: 295 murders
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Jamaica has a glimmer of hope in addressing the challenges posed by aggressive crime pancreatic cancer, as there is a chance to tackle this issue effectively. Achieving this requires the execution of several crucial actions. These actions include, but are not limited to:

- Revising the existing crime plan

- Evaluating and applying some or all of Robert Peel’s nine principles of policing,  

- Identifying pertinent criminological theories and integrating them into policing strategies,  

- Enhancing transparency and accountability within the police department,  

- Implementing strategies across the island, not solely in Kingston and the urban areas.  

- Incorporate Diaspora support to gain more access to best practices.

For example, using existing data to inform decision-making is crucial and involves criminologists and criminal justice professionals in guiding policy and considering public needs. Therefore, data must first be collected.

Almost all police departments worldwide base their policies and operations on Robert Peel's nine principles, which almost always include public involvement.  

1. To prevent crime and disorder, as an alternative to their repression by military force and severity of legal punishment.
2. It is important to recognize that the police's ability to fulfill their functions and duties depends on public approval of their existence, actions, and behavior and on their ability to secure and maintain public respect. 
3. Always recognize that guaranteeing and maintaining the public's respect and approval means securing the public's cooperation in ensuring law observance.
4. To recognize always that the extent to which the cooperation of the public can be secured diminishes proportionately the necessity of using physical force and compulsion to achieve police objectives.
5. To seek and preserve public favor, not by pandering to public opinion, but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law, in complete independence of policy, and without regard to the justice or injustice of the substance of individual laws, by the ready offering of individual service and friendship to all members of the public without regard to their wealth or social standing, by the ready exercise of courtesy and friendly good humor, and by the ready offering of individual sacrifice in protecting and preserving life.
6. To use physical force only when the exercise of persuasion, advice, and warning is found to be insufficient to obtain public cooperation to an extent necessary to secure observance of the law or to restore order, and to use only the minimum degree of physical force which is necessary on any particular occasion for achieving a police objective. 
7. Maintaining a relationship with the public at all times makes the historical tradition that the police are public and that the public is the police a reality. The police are only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties that are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence. 
8. Always recognize the need for strict adherence to police-executive functions and to refrain from even seeming to usurp the judiciary's powers of avenging individuals or the State and of authoritatively judging guilt and punishing the guilty. 
9. It is important to recognize that the test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder and not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with them.