KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) caretaker/candidate for Central St James Heroy Clarke says that the parish is losing the battle against crime.

“I wish to state very clearly, St James is losing the battle against crime, especially in the medium to long term. The present crime spike is yet another strong indication of this,” Clarke said in a release today.

Clarke said that he has written to his constituents outlining a practical approach, within the context of a community safety diagnosis approach to reduce the approximately 60 per cent increase in crime in the parish, recently.

According to police statistics, 12 of Jamaica’s 19 police divisions have reported an increase in homicides. The parishes of St James and Clarendon have seen a 60 percent and 42 percent increase in murders, respectively. 

 “I have observed that many crime prevention initiatives have been tried over the last 10 years. However, in terms of the impact, it has been limited, as the intervention programmes lack the necessary funding to make a sustainable impact over the medium to long term, and are considered to be only token in most cases,” he said.

Balford Henry