It’s a long time ago, but Justice Minister Delroy Chuck, like many other older Jamaicans do remember a time when this country had fewer than 100 murders in a calendar year.

No surprise then that while he believes less than 1,000 murders this year would be “good”, he does not think it’s good enough.

Mr Chuck has visions of murders dipping below 100 in a 12-month period during his lifetime.

Statistics on the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) website suggest that to find fewer than 100 murders in a year we have to go back to the 1960s.

According to JCF stats, Jamaica experienced 63 murders in 1962, the year political Independence was effected from Britain.

There were 70 murders in 1963 and again in 1964; and 65 murders in 1965. Then came the build-up to the 1967 elections, involving horrific politically motivated gang violence — with the gun as weapon of choice — in Kingston Western, in particular. Consequentially, Kingston Western became the first of the so-called political garrisons — harbinger of worse to come.

In 1966, there were 111 murders. It was the first time the nation had experienced more than 100 murders in a year in modern Jamaica. A high level of politically motivated crimes triggered a state of emergency in October of that year.

JCF figures show murders have mostly surged since the 1960s to highs of 889 in the watershed, ideologically-driven election year of 1980; 1,683 in 2009; and 1,647 in 2017.

We believe surges in murders down the years are not only related to increases in shooting incidents. Technological advances from revolvers, bolt-action rifles and shotguns to increasing use of automatic weapons by criminals should also be factored in.

All of this means that the current decline of 44 per cent in murders in Jamaica up to this week, compared to the similar period last year, is remarkable.

We are told that there have been 309 murders recorded across the country this year up to Tuesday — 245 fewer than the 554 reported during the same period last year.

We agree with Mr Chuck that the country is on target to record far fewer than 800 murders in 2025, perhaps even fewer than 600. Increased police numbers, increased use of surveillance technology, much improved intelligence, greater investment by the Government, and improved cooperation from the public have all presumably contributed to police success in targeting criminal gangs, said to be responsible for the bulk of murders.

Is Mr Chuck’s target of below 100 murders in a calendar year feasible? Given current trends, we believe it is.

But added to current support systems there must be increased efforts, on the part of our US partners in particular, to prevent the flow of weaponry to Jamaica, the wider Caribbean, and the Americas.

Also, as we keep saying, there must be proactive measures to build community and national unity in support of law and order.

Crucially, trust in the police at community level must become rock solid. For that to happen, foul-ups such as the recent embarrassing confusion of a law-abiding citizen with an alleged criminal must not happen. That both shared the same name is no excuse.

It would not have happened had police investigators and their support staff done thorough checks and cross-checks in accordance with due diligence and a truly professional approach.

That approach must be an absolute priority for our police force going forward.