THE police force needs to find at least $500 million more each year to keep cutting down the crime rate in Jamaica.

The national security ministry estimates that it will take about $2 billion annually to have the desired amount of police vehicles up and running on the road, according to Richard Byles, co-chair of the Economic Performance Oversight Committee (EPOC).

But the budget for operating and maintaining the police fleet is $1.5 billion this year.

Keeping the fleet on the road, Byles said, is believed to have a significant impact on the containment of the crime rate.

Indeed, the incidence of major crimes, such as murder, has fallen by 40 per cent over the last four years. The murder rate declined by a further 12 per cent during the first quarter of 2014.

At the same time, spending on police vehicles have doubled since 2010.

Nevertheless, Byles wants a higher proportion of the Government’s budget to be allocated towards the security forces, given the close relationship between crime and economic performance.

“We since undertook to have discussion to see if there were areas in which we can be a little bit more efficient in how we spent the national budget in order to facilitate how much more we can put towards the business of crime fighting,” he said.

The World Bank estimates that Jamaica could see an additional 5.4 per cent of GDP each year if it reduces its homicide rate to that of Costa Rica.

Put another way, Jamaica’s economy would be $80 billion larger if the incidence of major crimes were about 80 per cent less. That is, considering that Central American country’s murder rate is 8.7 per 100,000 inhabitants, compared with Jamaica’s 44.

To get there, Jamaica might also need more police officers, along with the additional vehicles on the road, to bring its crime statistics more in line with that of Costa Rica.

There were 297 police officers per 100,000 persons in Jamaica in 2012, when Costa Rica had 337. Both were higher than the minimum police strength recommended by the United Nations — 222 per 100,000 people.

But adding another 40 officers per 100,000 citizens (or 1,100 police officers) could cost an additional $3 billion annually. The police department’s budget for employee compensation is $24 billion this year.

Still, the growth in GDP might far outweigh the additional cost in fighting crime.

A reduction in the crime rate would have an overall positive impact on the economy, with tourism and investments being obvious winners.

“We saw where tourism grew, we had more investors and room rates have gone up, with some extent of that being explainable by our efforts to keep crime down,” said Byles.

“Jamaica’s high crime rate has largely served to cheapen the tourism product”, said Dennis Chung, CEO of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ).

Not only does it prohibit visitors from exploring beyond the all-inclusive hotels, into the communities, where an authentic experience of culture can be had, but it also prohibits the maximisation of rates, according to the PSOJ CEO.

The high crime rate also has a restrictive effect on the productivity of the labour force, the level of business investments, and the cost of doing business in Jamaica.

“The fact that the global competitiveness report cites crime as the number one inhibitor to our competitiveness speaks volumes to the magnitude of this problem,” said Chung.