Trelawny police chief hails safest parish out west
Published:Friday | February 22, 2019 | 12:00 AMHopeton Bucknor/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The commanding officer for Trelawny has praised the police for being the third-most successful parish at suppressing murders, behind only St Elizabeth and St Mary in per-capita analysis.
Trelawny and St Elizabeth have both recorded three murders, and St Mary, two.
“Three murders are three murders too many, but when compared to the other parishes, we did reasonably well,” said Assistant Superintendent of Police Jermaine Delattibudiere, who was addressing an appreciation ceremony for police officers in the western parish
“At present, except for St Elizabeth and St Mary, our murder figures are better than the other parishes, including our western neighbours,” said Delattibudiere, who noted that the current situation was a carryover from last year, when Trelawny, which ended the year with 30 murders, emerged a much safer parish than western neighbours Hanover (59), St James (102) and Westmoreland (141). Trelawny had a per-capita murder rate of 40/100,000 in 2018, making residents less vulnerable to fatal violence than Wesmoreland, 97/100,000; Hanover, 84/100,00; and St James, 55/100,000.
“In the year ending December 31, 2018, the parish of Trelawny had an overall reduction in crime, and there was a significant decrease in four of seven major crime categories,” added Delattibudiere. “It should also be noted that we ended the year with a 69 per cent clear up in murders, which was the best reported in any police division across the island.”
While not giving specific figures, Delattibudiere said that 2019 has seen a reduction in murders over the comparative period last year. They have also managed to seize several illegal firearms, including high-powered weapons.
“Our success in 2018 has continued over into 2019. We have had several seizures of illegal firearms and a 60 per cent reduction in murders leading up to February 10, “said Delattibudiere. “We also had good improvement in clear-up rates in five of the major categories, and only a one per cent decrease in the other two. “
MAJOR VARIABLES
The seven major categories from which statistics were generated are murder, shooting, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, break-in, and larceny.
Delattibudiere said the decision to honour the Trelawny police was done to show appreciation for their hard work and commitment.
“The hard work done by these officers has resulted in the success in containing lawlessness,” said Delattibudiere. “I am very proud of the conduct of the members, the arrest rate, the conviction rate, teamwork, leadership, dedication, commitment to the job, quality of case-file preparation, use of scientific evidence, ability to exploit technology in investigations, and their good investigating skills overall. “