It is not often that I get to start the year with an article that gives praise for a job well done. However, 2024 has been a blessing in more ways than one.

To open the year with the previous one having had the lowest homicide figure in a decade is a headline you won’t see very often. Against the former year (2023), 1,138 murders for 2024 represents an 18.9 per cent decrease. What has led to this accomplishment and who were the star performers?

Well, St James seems to be well on its way to being the tourist capital of the Caribbean once again after reducing its crime figures so significantly. The per annum murders reveal a drop of 33 per cent to 125 homicides for 2024. This seems to be trending down to the type of murder statistics Montego Bay enjoyed before the scamming epidemic ruined the friendly city.

The reduction, I think reflects the impact of long-term zone of special operations efforts that have removed the ability of gangs in that space to do as they like. (What they like to do is kill). The national strategies that have been implemented for homicide reduction have also had an impact in that division.

Then there is Clarendon. This parish was the location of the tragedy of the shooting of 18 people in one night. Had this not happened, Clarendon’s tally of 69 murders — representing a 34 per cent reduction — would have been even more impressive. It is still, however, an envious reduction and a victory for effective policing and crime control.

St Ann — a parish not usually associated with homicides — also seems to be returning to its former glory as a tourist mecca, with its tally of 51 murders representing a 36 per cent reduction for 2024. This is a parish that, prior to the scamming epidemic, never really featured in discussions regarding murder. The reduction is a step in the right direction and one easier to maintain than with some of the other divisions.

Kingston Western is a division synonymous with murders and gang activity. This is their history. They have, however — since the fall of fort Tivoli in 2010 — demonstrated an ability to remove murder as a cultural norm. This recent reduction can also likely be maintained, despite the island being in an election year. This is because politically motivated murder is no longer a part of the nation’s culture.

St Catherine North, which includes the old capital Spanish Town, has also enjoyed a massive reduction of 23 per cent. The division ended the year with a murder tally of 94. This is no accident. There have been great efforts in this zone, including the merging of St Catherine’s two operations teams. The introduction of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Camendo Thoms to lead the operations portfolio and Superintendent Hopeton Nicholson to lead the division has also had an impact. Both men have a long and successful history combating organised crime.

Then there is the other part of the parish — St Catherine South — that, interestingly, continued the reduction trend set in 2023 when murders fell from 113 in 2022 to 103 in 2023. In 2024, the figure dropped to 83.

This is the lowest recorded murder statistic in this division in over 20 years. This type of reduction is particularly interesting because back in the late 90s and in 2000 when the division experienced this type of per annum homicide figure, the populations of Portmore and Old Harbour were much smaller. Therefore, the murder rate per hundred thousand would have been greater.

This division has been blessed with sound and talented leadership, including Senior Superintendent of Police Christopher Phillips and DSP Michael Campbell, who both led the division in 2024. The division has the oldest special operations unit in the country.

The division is consistently top three in murder clear-up and always seems to have energised talent leading the operations section. This includes the aforementioned DSP Camendo Thoms, Superintendent Leighton Grey, and current operations leader DSP Earl Grant.

I predict this could go lower, maybe even back to 1990s era numbers. That is if the social issues affecting the squatter settlements are examined and actioned by the relevant government services. The squatter settlements seem to predate apprenticeship and need to be removed and their residents relocated to somewhere fit for human habitation.

Although there are individual circumstances that are unique to each division, the national policies being driven by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) high command and the ability to motivate the members of the JCF are central to the success of the various divisions to reduce the murders.

The number of killers that are now in cages (where they belong) due to them being charged through solid investigations, the new laws, and new sentencing structures have had a major impact on the homicide rate.

A more responsible approach from the Independent Commission of Investigations has also played a part, although they still have a far way to go.

All factors coming together have led to this success — from individual divisional strategies to national JCF policies; from sound prosecutions from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to a patient citizenry that has been far more supportive of the police force.

The Jamaica Defence Force’s continuous participation in the island’s national security cannot be understated. Not many governments allow their army to participate in policing. Thank God ours does. This couldn’t happen in the United States.

Can we maintain this new beginning? Can we better it? I believe we can, but that battle began at midnight as the year changed.

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