ST MARY, Jamaica— Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of National Security, Senator Matthew Samuda, says St Mary’s murder rate is down by 50 per cent.

Samuda made the revelation on Friday during the official opening ceremony of the Police Post at Ian Fleming International Airport in Boscobel, St Mary.  

“Serious and violent crimes in the parish as at yesterday (August 12) are down by 27 per cent. However, the metric that we tend to use to judge safety and security outcomes is usually the murder rate, and in this parish, the murder rate, year to date, is down 50 per cent,” Samuda said.

Samuda attributed the reduction to the Government’s efforts in improving security infrastructure and police mobility coupled with enhanced technology, human resource and training. 

“We [the government] have been unrelenting in our efforts to provide the Police High Command with the relevant technological, surveillance, telecommunications, mobility, forensics, human resource and training, and intelligence apparatus to fulfil duties,” he said.

Samuda said under the Ministry’s Project Rebuild, Overhaul and Construct (P-ROC) over $5.2 billion in strategic investment has been allocated to improve the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

While pointing out the newly constructed police post which represents the latest success of Project ROC, he said “it is important to reinvest national gains into improving the welfare and safety of police officers”. 

“This development, and Project ROC in general,” Samuda said “is a part of the ministry’s transformational agenda to strengthen the Constabulary Force, and the national security apparatus in its entirety, to overcome this country’s chronic security issues.

“This effort is how we, as partners in crime fighting, continue to provide the best quality and internationally accepted working conditions, allowing our officers to serve, protect and reassure. We also expect that these renewed facilities will confer renewed pride and dignity among JCF officers, thus boosting morale in the execution of their duties.”  

Samuda also commended the Airports Authority of Jamaica for taking a lead role in the construction of the $48 million facility, which comprises a 2,500 square feet two-storey structure. It boasts a reception area, records room, two holding cells, washrooms, an interview room, office space, break and lunch rooms, storage as well as a kitchenette.

“It is an edifice befitting the modern policing force into which the JCF is steadily evolving. These modernization efforts in the JCF in particular are being directly overseen by the pragmatic leadership of the Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson, whose effectiveness is evident in the increased professionalization of the constabulary, for the decrease in certain categories of crime such as acquisitory crimes, and for the JCF’s management and enforcement of orders under the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA)” Samuda explained. 

Project ROC aims to convert police stations into modern, citizen-friendly workspaces, provide officers with a comfortable environment conducive to work, while creating an atmosphere for citizens to willingly and comfortably engage the police.