Tag Archives: State of emergency over worsening crime has some Jamaicans relieved – but is it an effective approach?

State of emergency over worsening crime has some Jamaicans relieved – but is it an effective approach?

State of emergency over worsening crime has some Jamaicans relieved – but is it an effective approach?

January 21, 2018

KINGSTON, Jamaica — For the past year or so, as the island’s murder rate has burgeoned, Jamaican netizens have been fixated on one topic: violent crime. Jamaica’s population was 2.881 Million in 2016.

Murders soared to 1,616 in 2017 — an increase of just over 20 percent from the year before. Moreover, only 29 percent of murders were “cleared up” (the local term for a suspect being arrested or killed).     Continue reading