JAMAICA-Citizens urged to play a role in crime reduction.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC—The Jamaica government urges citizens to help ensure that crime continues to trend downward on the island.

“Across Jamaica, there’s a 22 percent reduction in murders alone and close to a 40 percent reduction in overall crime. We want to congratulate the police for the fantastic work they have been doing [but] the government [and] the police cannot do it alone,” said Justice Minister Delroy Chuck,

“Every single one of you will have to play your part, work with the police, and work with one another so that Jamaica can once again become the most peaceful place across the Western Hemisphere. It can be done if we are determined to make Jamaica safe and secure.”

Chuck told the weekend activity organized by the Legal Aid Council’s (LAC) justice fair for persons with disabilities that the number of gangs has been reduced from over 300 to under 150, and measures continue to eradicate all gangs across the island.

“We want to tell all those persons who are in gangs and those youngsters who want to join gangs that there’s a better life. You don’t have to be fighting one another. You don’t have to spend all your money buying guns. You don’t have to spend all your time scamming,” he said.

Chuck implored law-abiding relatives of persons engaging in lottery scamming and other illegal activities to encourage them to desist.

“Let them know that is not the way. You get a few dollars in your pocket and start fighting over it. Easy come, easy go,” he said.

The fair forms part of the Ministry’s initiative to make justice more accessible to Jamaicans, including vulnerable citizens. It is also used as a tool to promote alternative justice services.

During the fair, persons with disabilities and other members of the public were provided with access to justice services such as expungement, victim support, estate management, child diversion, and restorative justice.

For the period January 1 to February 15, 2025, Jamaica has recorded 92 murders as compared with 121 for the same period last year.

Last year, Jamaica recorded a total of 1,139 murders, a 19 percent decline when compared to the previous year.