KINGSTON,
Jamaica, Friday September 28, 2012 – Crime in Jamaica is viewed as the main
impediment to the country’s economic and social prosperity, and Minister of
National Security Peter Bunting says that the government is placing focus on
prevention and control measures as it works to curtail the problem.
"We
just completed a National Security Policy and one of the things it identified
was that crime, violence and corruption were the main obstacles to rapid growth
and development in Jamaica," Bunting told members of the Montego Bay
Chamber of Commerce and Industry at a meeting held in the resort city last
week.
"Statistics
have shown that our per capita GDP (gross domestic product) would be
conservatively three times what it is now and more aggressively ten times what
it is now, if we didn’t have this high level of crime," the minister
stated.
According
to Bunting, the prevention measures will focus on community intervention
through the work of the Citizens Security and Justice Programme (CSJP), among
other initiatives.
In
terms of control, the minister said, "We are doing a number of things. The
police force is in transition, which is being accelerated. It is more
professional, more community-based, shifting an emphasis from a national
security emphasis to a citizen security emphasis… realising that it’s the only
way that we are going to have sustained success."
Bunting
urged all Jamaicans to support the police and the related groups and agencies
to put a dent in crime, especially in St James, which has the highest murder
rate of all parishes. He stated that the aim was to reduce crime to first-world
levels.
"We
want to go to 12 per 100, 000," he said.
The
National Security Policy, which forms part of the administration’s strategic
policy response to crime and violence, sets out the new priorities, policies
and strategies for the period 2012 to 2017.
Key
imperatives include: more aggressive use of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA);
focus on key players and their facilitators in illicit activities, such as
money laundering; addressing "dysfunctional elements" in the judicial
system; accelerating reform of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF); adopting a
strong, coherent anti-gang strategy; and rehabilitating communities deemed “at
risk”, through regeneration and employment creation programmes.
SOURCE: http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/news/jamaica_news/619646.html#ixzz288U9ym74
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