Chang declares crime tide turning as murders dip 37%

Declaring that the “tide has shifted”, National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang yesterday reeled off a raft of achievements in the fight against crime and violence, arguing that the country was beginning to see the results of the Government’s policies and investments in national security.

Speaking during the opening of the Sectoral Debate in Parliament, Chang said Jamaica was on a sustainable path of crime reduction. He said Jamaica recorded 187 murders in the first quarter of 2025, marking the third consecutive quarterly decline since the second quarter of 2024. He added that shootings, rapes, robberies, and break-ins have also declined for six straight quarters, starting from the third quarter of 2023.

From January 1 to April 27, there were 227 murders – 132 fewer than the same period in 2024 – representing a 37 per cent reduction. Major crimes overall dropped by 19 per cent year-on-year. If the trend continues, Chang said Jamaica could see fewer than 800 murders this year, “not just a historic low, but a major victory for every law-abiding Jamaican”.

Since the start of 2025, Chang said, the security forces have targeted 63 gangs, leading to the arrest of 159 known gang members and charges laid against 34 others for various offences, including murder, firearm breaches, and lottery scamming. Of those, 15 were charged under anti-gang legislation, with 10 major gang cases involving over 90 individuals currently before the courts.

Chang noted that 85 active gangs were identified across all 19 police divisions in the first quarter of 2025 – a 29 per cent decrease from the 120 recorded in the same period last year.

TANGIBLE RESULTS

“This downward trend is a clear indication that our strategy is gaining traction and delivering tangible results in dismantling criminal networks and disrupting their operations,” he said.

In response, opposition lawmaker Fitz Jackson welcomed the 30 per cent decline in murders in 2024, calling it a much-needed shift after eight years of rising violence under the current administration. He said the decline followed a grim reality which saw more Jamaicans murdered under a Jamaica Labour Party administration than under any previous two-term administration.

“Had the Government maintained and strengthened the PNP’s pre-2016 strategies it inherited less people would have been murdered,” Jackson declared, referring to the People’s National Party.

He noted that Jamaica’s homicide rate remained among the highest globally, compounded by unchecked financial crimes and mass shootings.

The opposition spokesman argued that the Government’s reliance on states of emergency as a blunt instrument eroded community trust, damaged livelihoods, and proved disastrous.

“Their approach mirrored ‘net fishing’, indiscriminately sweeping up innocent young men and children while failing to dismantle criminal networks,” he said.

Jackson said Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake’s recent endorsement of focused deterrence, targeting the one per cent responsible for 70 per cent of violence validates the opposition’s stance.

“This ‘spear fishing’ strategy, combining intelligence-led operations with community engagement, has driven the 2024 decline.”

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com

Historic achievements touted by Gov’t

• Lowest weekly murder count in 24 years – with 6 murders during Christmas week in 2024.

• Lowest monthly murder count in 25 years – 48 murders in February 2025.

• Lowest quarterly murder total in 25 years – 187 murders in Q1 of 2025.

• Most consecutive weeks with murders below 15, in 25 years – A run of 7 weeks since March 2025.

• Most weeks in a quarter with murders below 20, in 25 years – 11 weeks in Q1 of 2025.

• Lowest quarterly Major Crimes in 25 years – 898 cases in Q1 of 2025.

• Most firearms recovered in a single quarter – 276 firearms in Q1 of 2025.