Durrant Pate/Contributor

The latest crime statistics are showing more successes in reducing crime in Jamaica, as murders have gone down even further.

As of June 29, murders are down a further 23 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year. National Security and Peace Minister, Dr Horace Chang, who made the disclosure in parliament yesterday while closing the 2026/27 Sectoral Debate, trumpeted, “this has placed Jamaica on course to record one of the safest years in its modern history. If that trajectory holds, we will end 2026 with fewer than 600 murders.”

He remarked that just a few years ago, this would have seemed out of reach, but today it is within sight because the country has stayed the course and because the Government has stayed the course. “Let us be clear: this progress did not happen by chance, and it did not happen on its own. It is the product of deliberate policy, sustained investment, and the determined work of the men and women across our national security architecture,” he told parliament.

According to him, “it is the result of major infrastructure investment under Project Rebuild Overhaul and Construct (ROC), with police stations being constructed and rehabilitated across the island. It is the result of a record recruitment and promotion cycle within the Jamaica Constabulary Force, strengthening both capacity and morale. It is the result of an expanded JamaicaEye surveillance network and the continued modernisation of policing tools and operations.”

He pointed to the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency, which continues to expand its capacity to disrupt organised criminal networks and confront corruption, while the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency, PICA, is strengthening border security at a time when migration management, document integrity, and transnational threats are more important than ever. 

The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), he cited continuing to extend its reach in law enforcement support, crisis response, maritime security, and the protection of Jamaica’s economic zone, while through the Jamaica Cyber Incident Response Team, Jamaica is building the cyber defence capability that Jamaica and the wider Caribbean will increasingly require in the years ahead.

In addition, the ministry has transformed correctional services and rehabilitation with the recidivism (repeat offending) rate declining from 41 per cent to 27 per cent, the most significant reduction recorded in recent history.