Crime and Violence

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

STATISTICAL INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA

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