Stacy-Ann Thompson, head of the Special Project Unit at the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), has disclosed that the majority of Jamaicans felt safe at church, educational institutions, home, and workplace.

Thompson, during her presentation of the 2023 Jamaica National Crime Victimisation Survey Report on Friday emphasised that safety perceptions were generally high, where nine of every 10 respondents felt safe in places that they go to daily or interact with or visit regularly in 2019 compared to 2023.

“However, there was a decline in the perceived safety at banks—68.6 per cent of respondents felt safe at a bank in 2023 compared to 80.9 per cent in 2019. Also, at the ATM and on the corner of the street, 47.2 per cent of respondents indicated feeling safe compared to 56.3 per cent in 2019,” she said.

Thompson indicated that the Ministry of National Security contracted STATIN to conduct the Jamaica National Crime Victimisation Survey (JNCVS) for 2023 “The JNCVS is a significant initiative conducted to understand the prevalence, nature and impact of crime on individuals and communities. The study collects data from respondents about their experiences with violent and nonviolent crimes, including property crimes and personal offences.”

The 2023 JNCVS is the sixth instalment of the survey conducted on the island, five of which were conducted by STATIN. The project commenced in September 2023 with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

Thompson stated that crime victimisation helps to bridge that gap between the reported cases and unreported cases of crime, providing a more accurate picture of criminality.

The main objectives of the 2023 JNCVS were to:

• Provide data on the types of crimes, including those not reported to the police, which will form the basis for comparisons with previous victimisation surveys at the national and international level.
• Provide disaggregated information on criminal victimisation, including demographic characteristics of victims 16 years and older.
• Provide data on respondents’ knowledge of crime prevention initiatives.
• Understand the public’s perception of the security agencies and departments as it relates to awareness, reliability and effectiveness.

Additionally, the 2023 JNCVS was a household survey designed to produce reliable estimates of victimisation at the national and regional (urban/rural) levels.

“One individual per household was interviewed using the Next Birthday’ method of selection to determine who would be interviewed. The project was executed in five main phases: survey design and sampling selection, questionnaire design, main survey data collection, data processing and data analysis and report writing.

“The target population was usual residents of Jamaica living in private dwellings ages 16 years and older. This round of the study adhered to the Latin American and Caribbean Crime Victimisation Survey Initiative (LACS) methodology, similar to 2019. The 2023 JNCVS questionnaire had 11 sections with approximately 330 questions,” Thompson added.