The police are hanging much of their hopes on the new firearms legislation to help keep criminals on gun charges off the streets for longer periods.

Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) in charge of force development and logistics, Dr Kevin Blake, said the penalties under the current law are not stringent enough.

“This new legislation demonstrates that it [gun crimes] is being treated seriously — long in coming — but it is here now. So I have hope,” Blake said.

He noted that the previous legislation was like a slap on the wrist for people caught with illegal firearms as, “by the time the matter goes through the court, the person would have spent so much time in custody that the court has no choice but to release the person, and within two years that same man is back on the street”.

DCP Blake was addressing this week’s meeting of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) with officials of the national security ministry, and members of the leadership of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

He further argued that the country is not generating new criminals, as evidenced by the high recidivism rate among offenders.

“If you look at our rate of recidivism, contrary to what people believe, it’s the same set of people every day. The effort that it takes to find a man with a firearm, for example; the risk to the police with a deadly weapon to take that man off the street, convince witnesses, sometimes secure a conviction, and then a few years’ time or a couple months’ time you have that man to deal with again. There is better use you can make of the police’s time,” Blake said. “So we are very hopeful of this new firearms act. We smile when we see the possibility of taking that individual off the street and don’t have to worry about him again for another 10 years.”

A joint select committee of Parliament is now taking submissions on the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022 from various stakeholders and interest groups.

The JCF says it seizes approximately 725 illegal guns and 12,528 rounds of ammunition annually.

In the meantime, the JCF is reporting a general reduction in major crimes between 2016 and the end of March 2022, with a seven per cent decline so far this year, over the similar period in 2021. It says there is a 40 per cent clear up rate for the six categories of offences that fall under major crimes. Cases are considered cleared up when suspects are formally charged, or other factors such as if the suspect dies before charges are laid, DCP Blake explained.