ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica – The St Elizabeth police are reporting a 29 per cent reduction in major crimes across the parish during 2024, compared to the previous year.

Divisional Commanding Officer, Superintendent Coleridge Minto, indicated that murders, in particular, decreased from 40 in 2023 to 32 in 2024, representing a 20 per cent reduction.

He was addressing the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation’s monthly meeting in Black River on Thursday.

Superintendent Minto said the division has also recorded remarkable improvements in other areas of law enforcement.

“For 2024, the total number of seizures of ammunition was 1,313, which represents a 374 per cent increase over the previous year. The issuing of traffic tickets was 34,777 and represents an increase of 144 per cent over the previous year,” he outlined.

“There was a 15 per cent increase in [the number of] persons arrested for various crimes over the previous year, a nine per cent increase in the execution of warrants, and a six per cent increase in the seizure of motor vehicles,” the senior officer added.

Regarding plans for 2025, Superintendent Minto said he has already convened strategic meetings with portfolio officers, zone commanders, station commanders and the assistant commissioner in charge of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Area Three to discuss future security measures.

He is assuring the public of the unwavering focus by the policemen and policewomen serving the division on maintaining law and order across the breadbasket parish.

Superintendent Minto shared that well-coordinated joint operations will take precedence in an effort to curb crime and violence.

“Many of these operations are supported by external assets. Oftentimes we have support from specialised operations out of Kingston and members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF). These joint operations are well planned, well coordinated, and they have specific objectives,” he further outlined.

The commanding officer said, “citizens can expect to see several of these kinds of operations continuing in the parish, as many of them are on the horizon.”

Meanwhile, Superintendent Minto highlighted the positive community response to these initiatives that have been undertaken.

He welcomed wide-ranging stakeholder support in fostering peace, adding that the police are committed to collaborating with residents and other key interests to maintain public safety and citizen security.

“It tells me that when the people in the community want peace, then they’ll make it happen, and we, as a police force, will do all we can to work with them,” Superintendent Minto underscored.