KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Jamaica’s murder toll reached 762 as of August 24, with the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) indicating that the figure represents a 15 per cent decline on the same period last year.
In the latest figures released here, the JCF said that the murder figure represents 143 fewer homicides than for the corresponding period last year, when 905 murders were recorded.
In the last three weeks, at least 70 people were killed and when the JCF last issued an update on August 3, the murder toll was 692
According to the JCF, St. James topped all of the 19 police divisions with 90 murders, followed by Westmoreland, 66; St Andrew South, 61; St Catherine South, 59; and St Catherine North, 54.
The authorities said that these five divisions recorded the most homicides since the start of the year, while Portland had the fewest with seven killings.
The police said that shootings are down three per cent, with 21 fewer incidents than for the corresponding period in 2023, with injured persons, rapes, robberies and break-ins also on the decline.
During the period August 3 to 24, Jamaica recorded two mass shootings with the first occurring on August 11 in the community of Cherry Tree Lane in Clarendon, where 19 people were shot, eight fatally.
On August 20, in Point Hill district, St Catherine, eight people were shot, one fatally at the wake of entertainer Christopher Martin’s grandmother.
Last ear, Jamaica recorded 1,393, slightly down from 1,498 victims a year earlier.
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