Transcript Crime and Violence – The Jamaican Perspective Presented by: Sonia Jackson Director General Statistical Institute of Jamaica STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA.

Crime and Violence –
The Jamaican Perspective
Presented by:
Sonia Jackson
Director General
Statistical Institute of Jamaica
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
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Structure of Presentation
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Introduction
Classification of crimes committed
Crime Statistics
The link between crime and other social
indicators – occupation and education
Crime & its impact on the social & economic
well-being of the country
Some issues related to data on crime
Recommendations
STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
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Introduction
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Definitions from the Concise Oxford :
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Criminal is “a person who has committed a crime”
Crime is “an offence punishable by law”
The study of crime must take account of the broad
definition and not only offences against the person
Offences against the Person are critical but in some
instances these crimes are linked to other breaches
of the law
The correlation between different types of crimes
committed must also be analysed
The objectives of the analysis of crime data are to
provide information that will assist in defining and
implementing strategies that will lead to behaviour
modification.
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Classification of Crimes Committed
Offences Against the
Person
Offences Against Property
Miscellaneous
Murder
Burglary
Breaches of the Firearm Act
Shooting
House Break-in
Fraud
Rape & Carnal Abuse
Other Break-ins
Arson
Robbery
Larceny /Person
Dangerous Drugs Act
Manslaughter
Praedial larceny
Other offences
Infanticide
Larceny of Motor Vehicles
Suicide
Larceny from Motor
Vehicles
Felonious wounding
Larceny from dwellings
Other types of offences
Other types of Larceny
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Victims of Selected Major Crimes 2007 – by Age & Sex
AGE
GROU.
MURDER
M
SHOOTING
F
M
F
ROBBERY
BREAK-IN
RAPE
CARN.
ABUSE
F
F
TOTAL
By Sex
M
GRAND
TOTAL
M
F
M
F
F
-
-
-
-
2
2
2
11
13
-
-
-
21
23
5
47
52
0-4
1
5
1
2
5-9
2
1
2
2
1
10-14
6
3
10
5
15
4
1
2
165
300
32
479
511
15-19
112
19
88
9
58
47
7
20
242
138
265
475
740
20-24
230
28
195
23
125
96
63
45
109
-
613
301
914
25-29
257
13
154
21
162
90
82
81
52
-
655
257
912
30-34
188
13
140
11
149
78
127
105
43
-
604
250
854
35-39
181
14
90
15
149
60
116
77
23
-
536
189
725
40-44
123
19
100
15
127
53
111
68
16
-
461
171
632
45-49
107
11
64
9
77
28
71
71
15
-
319
134
453
50-54
48
3
36
3
63
64
74
49
6
-
221
85
306
101
12
42
6
134
33
176
76
12
-
453
139
592
71
6
397
5
22
8
37
19
4
2
527
44
571
1,427
147
1,319
126
1,082
521
865
613
710
465
4,693
2,582
7,275
55+
Unknown
TOT.
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Persons Arrested for Major Selected Crimes 2007 – by Age & Sex
AGE
GROU.
MURDER
M
SHOOTING
F
M
F
ROBBERY
M
BREAK-IN
F
M
RAPE
CARN.
ABUSE
M
M
F
TOTAL
By Sex
M
GRAND
TOTAL
F
12-15
10
2
6
-
11
-
35
1
13
13
88
3
91
16-20
94
6
81
-
86
-
71
2
67
57
456
8
464
21-25
160
2
134
-
99
3
75
3
49
41
558
8
566
26-30
105
1
92
1
61
1
62
1
36
39
395
4
399
31-35
60
2
43
-
45
-
39
-
33
23
243
2
245
36-40
23
2
23
-
28
-
37
1
28
13
152
3
155
41-45
6
5
6
-
5
-
28
-
19
10
74
5
79
46-50
6
-
6
1
4
1
9
-
9
4
38
2
40
51-55
4
-
2
-
3
-
8
1
3
3
23
1
24
56-60
2
-
1
-
-
-
2
-
3
3
11
-
11
61+
3
-
1
-
1
-
2
-
-
2
9
-
9
Unknown
20
-
66
-
25
-
5
-
8
2
126
-
126
TOT.
493
20
461
2
368
5
373
9
268
210
2,173
36
2,209
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Miscellaneous Crimes 2006 & 2007
- Reported & Cleared
2006
Classification
Breaches of the Firearm
Act (Including illegal
possession)
Reported
2007
Cleared Up
Reported Cleared Up
2,073
2,073
2,259
2,149
Fraud
608
584
783
754
Arson
104
84
100
49
Dangerous Drug Act
9,034
9,034
9,452
9,452
Other offences
2,996
2,905
3,513
3,257
14,785
14,680
16,107
15,661
TOTAL
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Motor Vehicle Fatalities 2007 - by Parish
Accidents – Involving
Fatalities
Persons Killed
Kingston
16
18
St. Andrew
41
43
St. Thomas
10
10
Portland
2
2
St. Mary
6
6
St. Ann
26
36
Trelawny
19
22
St. James
25
31
Hanover
19
20
Westmoreland
23
26
St. Elizabeth
16
18
Manchester
23
30
Clarendon
18
20
St. Catherine
54
65
TOTAL
298
347
Parish
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Persons Deported to Jamaica 2007
- by Offence & Country
Offences
USA
Possession of Drugs
CANADA
UK
Other
TOTAL
599
37
276
73
985
Illegal possession of Firearm
96
11
17
2
126
Murder, Manslaughter
38
3
3
0
44
259
107
450
446
1,262
Robbery, Burglary, Larceny
79
6
15
2
102
Fraud, False document
62
16
43
19
140
Wounding, Assault
93
23
19
4
139
Rape, Indecent Assault
29
1
15
2
47
9
0
1
0
10
Money Laundering
10
0
1
0
11
Other Offences
55
14
30
19
118
1,329
218
870
567
2,984
Illegal Alien
Kidnapping
TOTAL
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Admissions to Adult Correctional Institutions 2006
- by Occupation & Sex
OCCUPATION
MALE
FEMALE
TOTAL
Self Employed
5
4
9
Professional
53
16
69
Skilled
703
35
738
Unskilled
1075
86
1161
Students
23
24
47
Soldiers, Security Guard, Police
34
3
37
No Occupation, Not Recorded
30
9
39
1923
177
2100
TOTAL
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Admissions to Adult Correctional Institutions 2006
- by Education & Sex
MALE
FEMALE
TOTAL
Illiterate
115
8
123
Poor
842
31
873
Fair
372
94
466
Good
31
23
54
Not Recorded
563
21
584
TOTAL
1923
177
2100
EDUCATION
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Some Related Factors –Home & Community
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There is the need to understand the contributory
factors that lead to criminal and other violent
behavioural practices:
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The role and impact of the family and the wider community
need to be understood;
The dominance of young males as the victims and the
perpetrators of major crimes;
The correlation between crime and the other social
indicators , e.g. education, skills level, health, etc;
Motor vehicle accidents and the fatalities associated
therewith are affecting the same population age group –
young males.
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Crime Statistics – Source and Issues
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Crime Statistics are gathered from the administrative
records of the Police system island wide & published
by the Police Statistics Unit:
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The issue of coverage needs to be addressed – not all
crimes are reported, particularly those that occur
within the home, and when reported the victim and/or
the witness is not always forthcoming;
There are no standards for the collection and retrieval
of crime the data;
The system is largely manual – efforts are being made
to address this problem .
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The Justice System
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The inadequacy of the justice system to cope with
the increasing number of cases has resulted in:
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Cases are not being disposed of in a timely manner and
there is a growing backlog;
Because of the delays in trial, some persons are detained
for inordinately long periods;
Citizens loose confidence in the system and are inclined to
apply “vigilante justice” in some instances – e.g. praedial
larceny & carnal abuse;
Witnesses are not always willing to come forward to give
evidence & some have no confidence in the witness
protection system – the trial of some cases are
compromised.
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The Penal System
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The Correctional Institutions are all
overcrowded;
The buildings and the operating systems are old
and in need of refurbishing;
The rehabilitation programmes are being
upgraded to offer life skills and earning skills.
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Impact of Crime & Violence
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Sections of downtown Kingston are feared and there has been
steady migration out of these areas;
The infrastructure in downtown Kingston is underutilised;
Growth of informal land settlements, mainly the urban centres, with
high population densities provide a heaven for criminal activities and
make policing difficult;
In violence prone communities economic and social activities have
been considerably reduced, schools are under-populated and when
there is a “flare-up” of violence businesses and schools close;
Persons who reside in these communities do not provide their
correct addresses when seeking jobs – the fear of being
discriminated against in the selection process;
The social fibre of the families are being affected as the perpetrators
and the victims of crime are mainly young males;
Growth in private security companies and “gated” communities;
Greater difficulty in data collection – concerns for safety of
interviewers and the challenge of gaining access to gated
communities.
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Recommendations – Data collection
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Guidelines need to be provided for the collection and analysis of
data on crime using the administrative data sets;
The data collection process within the various systems must be
harmonised to link the data on the individual from arrest through
conviction and punishment, custodial and non-custodial;
The classification of crimes need to standardised at the
international level;
Validation of crime statistics is necessary and can be achieved
through victimisation surveys – guidelines need to established
The data collection process must ensure that the victims, the
witnesses of crime and the communities and families from which
they come do not feel that they are on trial;
The data collection procedure needs to be standardised and
modernised;
The impact of “deportees” with criminal records need to be
monitored – this may require new legislation as these persons
have not committed a crime in the country to which they have
been deported.
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Recommendations – other areas
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The Judiciary
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The system needs to be strengthened so that cases can be heard
and resolved in shorter periods;
The laws need to be reviewed – particularly in relation to
application of sentences where there is conviction.
The Penal System
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The system needs to be modernised and the over crowding
reduced.
The Society
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–
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The social and cultural factors that contribute to aggression,
violence and criminal tendencies within the society have to be
studied;
Gender issues must be studied and understood; gender
inequalities addressed.
The strategies used by the Police and the Military in crime
management & apprehension need to be reformed.
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Recommendations – other areas
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Legislative –
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Legislative reform in respect to offences against the person need
to be gender neutral to address the growing problem being
experienced by males – e.g. issues of rape, carnal abuse and
indecent assault;
There is the need for legislation that will allow for monitoring, over
a specific period of time, of “deportees” with criminal records;
The International Community is required to 
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Develop a standard classification for crime statistics;
Develop and provide guidelines for the collection and analysis of
crime statistics;
Develop and provide guidelines for the conduct and analysis of
victimisation surveys;
Set targets and direct strategies for intervention at the national
level in the same way that the MDGs were developed to address
poverty reduction.
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References:
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Economic and Social Survey Jamaica 2007a publication of the Planning Institute of
Jamaica
The website of the Correctional Services
Department – for custodial data
http://www.dcsj.net/p/stats2006custodial.xls
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