The police are projecting that murders could spiral to as high as 1,526 by the end of this year if the current trend of 4.1 homicides per day continues.

A breakdown of daily murders issued by the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) on Monday showed that a total of 893 homicides have been reported since the start of this year, with the highest number, 157, committed in June.

A total of 138 murders were recorded in May, while 136 were reported in July, 123 in January, 118 in March, 109 in April, and 86 in February. The August figure stood at 26 up to the time of the NIB report.

According to the report, the year-to-date increase in murders was 159 or 21.7 per cent compared to the same period last year.

“The murder figure since the start of 2017 is showing an increase when compared to the corresponding period in 2016,” the NIB report stated. “Similarly, the cumulative figure for the last three days (August 4 – August 6, 2017) shows an increase of 1 or 9.1 per cent when compared to the corresponding period in 2016.”

Over the period, the highest number of murders – 117 – were reported in the St James division. This was followed by Westmoreland with 85; Clarendon with 84; St Andrew South, 76; St Catherine North, 75; Kingston West, 59; St Catherine South, 56; Hanover 40; St Andrew Central, 38; St Ann, 38; St Andrew North, 38; Kingston East, 29; Manchester, 26; Kingston Central 19; St Elizabeth, 14; St Thomas, 12; Trelawny, 12; St Mary, 11; and Portland, 4.