The country recorded 963 murders between January 1 and September 11 this year. That’s according to data from the Jamaica Constabulary Force, JCF.
Mahiri Stewart has been looking at the numbers.
For the first 253 days this year, 963 murders were logged by the police. That’s 125 fewer than the corresponding period last year.
The country is averaging about 120 homicides per month or about 28 each week.
The data from the police shows that homicides have increased in five of the 19 police divisions since the start of the year.
Hanover is showing 26 murders more than last year.
St. Ann has 14 more than last year, Portland has recorded two more, Clarendon is showing 13 more homicides while East Kingston has five more than last year.
But the JCF will treat the fact that homicides have fallen in the other 14 police divisions as a small victory.
St. James is leading the homicide race in 2023, logging 139 so far.
That number is seven percent less than for the corresponding period last year.
Notably, St. James is the only police division in which the murder count has exceeded the 1-hundred mark so far in 2023.
Westmoreland has 86 homicides so far, 22 less than last year.
St Andrew South has recorded 84 murders, 19 less than last year.
St. Catherine North has recorded 79 murders to date, 104 less than last year.
While St. Catherine South has logged 72 murders, 17 less than the same point in 2022.
