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Leslie, Glaister. 2010 ‘Background: Violent Crime in Jamaica.’ Confronting the Don: The Political Economy of Gang Violence in Jamaica; Occasional Paper No. 26, pp. 5-6. Geneva: Small Arms Survey, the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. 3 November

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Violent Crime in Jamaica

In 2004 Jamaican police crime data indicated 55.5 intentional homicides per 100,000, three times the Caribbean average of 18 per 100,000 and seven times the 2004 global average of 7.6 per 100,000 (Geneva Declaration Secretariat, 2008, pp. 71, 73; UNODC, 2010).

By 2009, Jamaica's intentional homicide rate had climbed to a near-record 62 per 100,000.(3)

Figure 1: Intentional homicide rates, per 100,000 population: Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, selected years, 1974–2002. Rate per 100,000 population [p.5]

Figure 2: Total number of major crimes and murders recorded by the Jamaican government, 1990–2009 Recorded major crimes Recorded murders [p.6]

Sources cited:

3) Jamaica's overall homicide rate is much higher than the intentional homicide rate. In 2009, the total number of homicides stood at 1,957, including fatal shootings not considered murder (JCFSD, 2010). The Statistical Institute of Jamaica estimates that the end-of-year population for 2008—the most recent available—was 2,692,400 (SIJ, n.d.); the overall homicide rate thus calculates to 72.7 per 100,000. The difference between the overall homicide rate and the intentional homicide rate is mostly due to police killings of civilians, which is discussed below (JCFSD, 2010).

Geneva Declaration Secretariat. 2008. Global Burden of Armed Violence. Geneva: Geneva Declaration Secretariat.

JCFSD [Jamaica Constabulary Force Statistical Department]. 2010. 'Jamaica Constabulary Force Crime Review Period 2009 vs. 2008 (Provisional).' Kingston: Jamaica Constabulary Force.

UNODC [United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime]. 2010. 'UNODC Homicide Statistics: Criminal Justice and Public Health Sources—Trends (2003–2008).'

ID: Q3390

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