Murders dip before Christmas after bloody start to December

Murders in Jamaica dip to just 15 reports last week as the country heads into the heart of the Yuletide season, with Christmas Day 48 hours away.

The latest serious crime statistics published by the Jamaica Constabulary Force this morning show that as at December 21, the murder toll stood at 1,129.

A week prior, at December 14, it was 1,114.

Jamaica steadily averaged 22 murders at the 50-week mark this year.

There are now eight days remaining in 2024.

As at December 21, murders decline year-on-year by 18 per cent or 246 fewer than the previous year.

According to the data, 15 of the 19 police divisions have recorded a decline in homicides so far this year.

The murders of veteran journalist Barbara Gayle and popular tiktoker Marlon '41 Busshead' Samuels had tongues wagging across the nation last week.

Gayle was found dead at her home in Caymanas Estate phase one on Tuesday, December 17, while Samuels was gunned down in St James on December 20, just hours before his birthday. 

The St James police division, 125, is the most murderous followed by St Andrew South with 118 homicides.

Westmoreland, 98, St Catherine North 92 and St Catherine South 83, round out the top five.

Portland, 13, remains the division with the least murders.

Shootings, injured persons, rape, robbery and break-ins have declined in 2024.

- Andre Williams

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