STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA 1 Crime and Violence – The Jamaican Perspective Presented by : Sonia Jackson Director General Statistical Institute of

STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA 1

Crime and Violence – The Jamaican Perspective

Presented by:

Sonia JacksonDirector General

Statistical Institute of Jamaica


Structure of Presentation

Introduction Classification of crimes committed Crime Statistics The link between crime and other social

indicators – occupation and education Crime & its impact on the social & economic

well-being of the country Some issues related to data on crime Recommendations


Introduction Definitions from the Concise Oxford :

Criminal is “a person who has committed a crime” Crime is “an offence punishable by law”

The study of crime must take account of the broad definition and not only offences against the person

Offences against the Person are critical but in some instances these crimes are linked to other breaches of the law

The correlation between different types of crimes committed must also be analysed

The objectives of the analysis of crime data are to provide information that will assist in defining and implementing strategies that will lead to behaviour modification.


Classification of Crimes Committed

Offences Against the Person

Offences Against Property Miscellaneous

Murder Burglary Breaches of the Firearm Act

Shooting House Break-in Fraud

Rape & Carnal Abuse Other Break-ins Arson

Robbery Larceny /Person Dangerous Drugs Act

Manslaughter Praedial larceny Other offences

Infanticide Larceny of Motor Vehicles

Suicide Larceny from Motor Vehicles

Felonious wounding Larceny from dwellings

Other types of offences Other types of Larceny


Victims of Selected Major Crimes 2007 – by Age & SexAGE

GROU.MURDER SHOOTING ROBBERY BREAK-IN RAPE CARN.

ABUSETOTALBy Sex

GRANDTOTAL

M F M F M F M F F F M F

0-4 1 5 1 2 - - - - 2 2 2 11 13

5-9 2 1 2 2 1 - - - 21 23 5 47 52

10-14 6 3 10 5 15 4 1 2 165 300 32 479 511

15-19 112 19 88 9 58 47 7 20 242 138 265 475 740

20-24 230 28 195 23 125 96 63 45 109 - 613 301 914

25-29 257 13 154 21 162 90 82 81 52 - 655 257 912

30-34 188 13 140 11 149 78 127 105 43 - 604 250 854

35-39 181 14 90 15 149 60 116 77 23 - 536 189 725

40-44 123 19 100 15 127 53 111 68 16 - 461 171 632

45-49 107 11 64 9 77 28 71 71 15 - 319 134 453

50-54 48 3 36 3 63 64 74 49 6 - 221 85 306

55+ 101 12 42 6 134 33 176 76 12 - 453 139 592

Un-known

71 6 397 5 22 8 37 19 4 2 527 44 571

TOT. 1,427 147 1,319 126 1,082 521 865 613 710 465 4,693 2,582 7,275


Persons Arrested for Major Selected Crimes 2007 – by Age & Sex

AGEGROU.

MURDER SHOOTING ROBBERY BREAK-IN RAPE CARN.ABUSE

TOTALBy Sex

GRANDTOTAL

M F M F M F M F M M M F

12-15 10 2 6 - 11 - 35 1 13 13 88 3 91

16-20 94 6 81 - 86 - 71 2 67 57 456 8 464

21-25 160 2 134 - 99 3 75 3 49 41 558 8 566

26-30 105 1 92 1 61 1 62 1 36 39 395 4 399

31-35 60 2 43 - 45 - 39 - 33 23 243 2 245

36-40 23 2 23 - 28 - 37 1 28 13 152 3 155

41-45 6 5 6 - 5 - 28 - 19 10 74 5 79

46-50 6 - 6 1 4 1 9 - 9 4 38 2 40

51-55 4 - 2 - 3 - 8 1 3 3 23 1 24

56-60 2 - 1 - - - 2 - 3 3 11 - 11

61+ 3 - 1 - 1 - 2 - - 2 9 - 9

Un-known 20 - 66 - 25 - 5 - 8 2 126 - 126

TOT. 493 20 461 2 368 5 373 9 268 210 2,173 36 2,209


Miscellaneous Crimes 2006 & 2007- Reported & Cleared

2006 2007

Classification Reported Cleared Up Reported Cleared Up

Breaches of the Firearm Act (Including illegal possession)

2,073 2,073 2,259 2,149

Fraud 608 584 783 754

Arson 104 84 100 49

Dangerous Drug Act 9,034 9,034 9,452 9,452

Other offences 2,996 2,905 3,513 3,257

TOTAL 14,785 14,680 16,107 15,661


Motor Vehicle Fatalities 2007 - by Parish

Parish Accidents – Involving Fatalities

Persons Killed

Kingston 16 18

St. Andrew 41 43

St. Thomas 10 10

Portland 2 2

St. Mary 6 6

St. Ann 26 36

Trelawny 19 22

St. James 25 31

Hanover 19 20

Westmoreland 23 26

St. Elizabeth 16 18

Manchester 23 30

Clarendon 18 20

St. Catherine 54 65

TOTAL 298 347


Persons Deported to Jamaica 2007 - by Offence & CountryOffences USA CANADA UK Other TOTALPossession of Drugs 599 37 276 73 985

Illegal possession of Firearm 96 11 17 2 126

Murder, Manslaughter 38 3 3 0 44

Illegal Alien 259 107 450 446 1,262

Robbery, Burglary, Larceny 79 6 15 2 102

Fraud, False document 62 16 43 19 140

Wounding, Assault 93 23 19 4 139

Rape, Indecent Assault 29 1 15 2 47

Kidnapping 9 0 1 0 10

Money Laundering 10 0 1 0 11

Other Offences 55 14 30 19 118

TOTAL 1,329 218 870 567 2,984


OCCUPATION MALE FEMALE TOTAL

Self Employed 5 4 9

Professional 53 16 69

Skilled 703 35 738

Unskilled 1075 86 1161

Students 23 24 47

Soldiers, Security Guard, Police 34 3 37

No Occupation, Not Recorded 30 9 39

TOTAL 1923 177 2100

Admissions to Adult Correctional Institutions 2006 - by Occupation & Sex


EDUCATION MALE FEMALE TOTAL

Illiterate 115 8 123

Poor 842 31 873

Fair 372 94 466

Good 31 23 54

Not Recorded 563 21 584

TOTAL 1923 177 2100

Admissions to Adult Correctional Institutions 2006 - by Education & Sex


Some Related Factors –Home & Community There is the need to understand the contributory

factors that lead to criminal and other violent behavioural practices: The role and impact of the family and the wider community

need to be understood; The dominance of young males as the victims and the

perpetrators of major crimes; The correlation between crime and the other social

indicators , e.g. education, skills level, health, etc; Motor vehicle accidents and the fatalities associated

therewith are affecting the same population age group – young males.


Crime Statistics – Source and Issues Crime Statistics are gathered from the administrative

records of the Police system island wide & published by the Police Statistics Unit: The issue of coverage needs to be addressed – not all

crimes are reported, particularly those that occur within the home, and when reported the victim and/or the witness is not always forthcoming;

There are no standards for the collection and retrieval of crime the data;

The system is largely manual – efforts are being made to address this problem .


The Justice System

The inadequacy of the justice system to cope with the increasing number of cases has resulted in: Cases are not being disposed of in a timely manner and

there is a growing backlog; Because of the delays in trial, some persons are detained

for inordinately long periods; Citizens loose confidence in the system and are inclined to

apply “vigilante justice” in some instances – e.g. praedial larceny & carnal abuse;

Witnesses are not always willing to come forward to give evidence & some have no confidence in the witness protection system – the trial of some cases are compromised.


The Penal System

The Correctional Institutions are all overcrowded;

The buildings and the operating systems are old and in need of refurbishing;

The rehabilitation programmes are being upgraded to offer life skills and earning skills.


Impact of Crime & Violence Sections of downtown Kingston are feared and there has been

steady migration out of these areas; The infrastructure in downtown Kingston is underutilised; Growth of informal land settlements, mainly the urban centres, with

high population densities provide a heaven for criminal activities and make policing difficult;

In violence prone communities economic and social activities have been considerably reduced, schools are under-populated and when there is a “flare-up” of violence businesses and schools close;

Persons who reside in these communities do not provide their correct addresses when seeking jobs – the fear of being discriminated against in the selection process;

The social fibre of the families are being affected as the perpetrators and the victims of crime are mainly young males;

Growth in private security companies and “gated” communities; Greater difficulty in data collection – concerns for safety of

interviewers and the challenge of gaining access to gated communities.


Recommendations – Data collection Guidelines need to be provided for the collection and analysis of

data on crime using the administrative data sets; The data collection process within the various systems must be

harmonised to link the data on the individual from arrest through conviction and punishment, custodial and non-custodial;

The classification of crimes need to standardised at the international level;

Validation of crime statistics is necessary and can be achieved through victimisation surveys – guidelines need to established

The data collection process must ensure that the victims, the witnesses of crime and the communities and families from which they come do not feel that they are on trial;

The data collection procedure needs to be standardised and modernised;

The impact of “deportees” with criminal records need to be monitored – this may require new legislation as these persons have not committed a crime in the country to which they have been deported.


Recommendations – other areas The Judiciary –

The system needs to be strengthened so that cases can be heard and resolved in shorter periods;

The laws need to be reviewed – particularly in relation to application of sentences where there is conviction.

The Penal System – The system needs to be modernised and the over crowding

reduced. The Society –

The social and cultural factors that contribute to aggression, violence and criminal tendencies within the society have to be studied;

Gender issues must be studied and understood; gender inequalities addressed.

The strategies used by the Police and the Military in crime management & apprehension need to be reformed.


Recommendations – other areas Legislative –

Legislative reform in respect to offences against the person need to be gender neutral to address the growing problem being experienced by males – e.g. issues of rape, carnal abuse and indecent assault;

There is the need for legislation that will allow for monitoring, over a specific period of time, of “deportees” with criminal records;

The International Community is required to - Develop a standard classification for crime statistics; Develop and provide guidelines for the collection and analysis of

crime statistics; Develop and provide guidelines for the conduct and analysis of

victimisation surveys; Set targets and direct strategies for intervention at the national

level in the same way that the MDGs were developed to address poverty reduction.


References:

Economic and Social Survey Jamaica 2007- a publication of the Planning Institute of Jamaica

The website of the Correctional Services Department – for custodial data http://www.dcsj.net/p/stats2006custodial.xls

Documents

STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA 1 Crime and Violence – The Jamaican Perspective Presented by : Sonia Jackson Director General Statistical Institute of