Crime and Violence – The Jamaican Perspective

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

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. STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA

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Miscellaneous Crimes 2006 & 2007- Reported & Cleared STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA

Motor Vehicle Fatalities 2007 - by Parish STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA

Persons Deported to Jamaica 2007 - by Offence & Country STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA

Admissions to Adult Correctional Institutions 2006 - by Occupation & Sex STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA

Admissions to Adult Correctional Institutions 2006 - by Education & Sex STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA

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. STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA

Crime Statistics – Source and Issues • Crime Statistics are gathered from the administrative records of the Police system island wide & published by thePolice 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 . STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA

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. STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA

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. STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA

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. STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA

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. STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA

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. STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA

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. STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA

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 STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA

Crime and Violence – The Jamaican Perspective