MoBay’s declining crime rate key to investor confidence, says mayor
Published:Saturday | August 16, 2025 | 12:12 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon says the ability to entice foreign investors to pump funding into the western city is dependent on the ability to maintain a low crime rate, which the St James capital has been able to do since the start of this year.
Montego Bay, which has been a hotbed of rampant criminality for almost two decades, is now averaging eight murders per 100,000 people since the start of 2025, the lowest rate experienced since 2005.
Addressing Friday’s groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the 1092 Palms residential complex near Whitter Village in Ironshore, St James, Vernon said the world’s safest cities average five murders per 100,000 residents.
“What we have to take note of is that the investors’ confidence is hinged on the fact that Montego Bay is providing the opportunity, where we have the land, the resources, and the capacity to do development, but we also are enjoying the lowest ever level of crime,” said Vernon. “The crime rate that we have now is similar, or trending in a similar direction, to the safest cities in the world.
“The safest cities in the world have five murders per 100,000 people. We are trending at eight murders per 100,000 in Montego Bay, and we are coming from about 30 murders per 100,000.
“In terms of being a safe city, and in the whole scope of freedom, you cannot invest if there is crime, because you are losing your freedom in that sense as well. You are losing money because the property value is going down. You do not feel safe, so you cannot go out, so why would you invest? So these things matter.”
Vernon also referenced a previous commitment from the St James Police Division – which has had an unenviable history as the division with the highest murder tally over several years –, to record fewer than 100 murders in 2025.
“When we talk about creating an environment for economic enhancement, it hinges significantly on order and crime management. I am happy that this year in Montego Bay, we made a commitment to ensure that we have less than 100 murders, and we are past half of the year, and just at about 30,” said Vernon.
In 2015, then United States (US) Ambassador to Jamaica Louis G. Moreno expressed concern that Jamaica’s crime rate could negatively affect millions of dollars in US investment that were being earmarked for Montego Bay and other parts of Jamaica. During that year, Jamaica recorded 1,192 murders.
Data from the Jamaica Constabulary Force indicates that, out of the 415 murders recorded in Jamaica up to August 9, St James has recorded 36 murders so far this year, significantly fewer than the 83 murders which were recorded in the parish over the corresponding period in 2024. This puts St James on track to register fewer than 100 murders in any single year since 2005.