MONTEGO BAY, St James — As major crimes continue to trend down in this western parish, the police have made a bold prediction for 2026.

“For next year, just like last year when we said under 100, we are saying under 70,” head of the St James Police Senior Superintendent Eron Samuels told Thursday’s monthly council meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation.

“We will be making our plans and putting things in place to ensure whatever gains we make this year is sustained going into next year,” he explained.

The parish has been seeing a downward trend in major crimes with less than half the murders that were committed up to this time last year.

“Since the start of the year, we have been seeing a decline in murders and shootings. So far, we are at 44 murders compared to 108 last year which is 68 less — which is approximately 60 per cent,” Samuels disclosed.

“For shootings, we are at 42 compared to 90, [that’s] 48 less shootings which is 53.4 per cent less,” he told the meeting.

After years of having the dubious distinction of being the bloodiest police division in Jamaica, St James now sits in fourth place, in terms of murders committed in the country.

“We’ll continue to work hard to ensure that we bring Montego Bag the title as the safest city,” Samuels vowed.

While the senior cop was cautious about revising the figure for this year, he said he is still optimistic about achieving the goals of fewer than 100 murders in the division.

“We are going to be pushing through with Operation Endgame towards the end of the year,” Samuels said.

That is the latest initiative rolled out as he and his team embark on a major push to further reduce crime and violence within the police division. It runs from October to the end of this year.

Endgame succeeds previous operations, Storm One and Storm Two, which have been deemed effective in bringing down crime levels within the parish, especially gang violence.

These successes are in stark contrast to previous periods of bloodshed, including 2017, when the division recorded an astonishing 342 murders. Samuels has attributed the gains made to the support the police have been getting.

“I must say that this cannot be done by the police alone but by all stakeholders being a part of the solution,” he insisted.

During the meeting he thanked councillors for their role in assisting the police as they grapple with issues of crime and violence at the local level.

“I must say thank you to everybody here who has helped in some way, shape or form: attending meetings, working out plans, doing your jobs so that it makes our job a little easier,” Samuels stated.

“I don’t believe any other police division enjoys this sort of support that we get here in St James; and for that working together we are seeing the results,” he added.