JLP soars as crime falls

• Big jump in the number of people who say JLP better at fighting crime than PNP

NEARLY A half of all Jamaicans believe the current Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) government is doing a better job than the previous People's National Party (PNP) administration in dealing with crime.

Only a quarter of Jamaicans - 25 per cent - feel the last PNP government did a better crime-fighting job, according to the latest Gleaner-commissioned Bill Johnson polls. It was conducted among 1,008 people in Jamaica's 14 parishes on May 28 and 29 and June 4 and 5. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus four per cent.

The poll found that fewer Jamaicans were 'very concerned' that they, or a member of their family might become a victim of crime. This portion of the population has dropped from a high of 72 per cent last year to 53 per cent this year.

At the same time, the number of persons who said they were 'somewhat concerned' rose from 13 per cent to 27 per cent, while those who are 'not really concerned' moved from 12 per cent last year to 19 per cent this year.

The issue of crime has been an albatross around the necks of successive administrations for more than three decades.

The Bruce Golding administration, which introduced strong anti-crime measures last year, also struggled to deal with crime in its early days after its 2007 election win. The prime minister changed two ministers of national security - Derrick Smith and the late Colonel Trevor MacMillan - before settling with Senator Dwight Nelson.

When pollster Johnson conducted a similar islandwide poll last year, he found that only 14 per cent of Jamaicans felt the JLP government was doing a better job in fighting crime than the previous PNP. But in the recent polls, almost half the people surveyed said the JLP was doing a better job in fighting the crime monster.

The survey also found that the portion of Jamaicans who believe the last PNP government did a better job in handling crime dropped from 38 per cent last year to 25 per cent this year.

The percentage of Jamaicans who say they don't know whether the former PNP government did a better crime-fighting job than the JLP fell from 49 per cent in 2010 to 27 per cent in 2011.

40 per cent reduction in murders

The Golding administration has secured a 40 per cent reduction in murders. Earlier this month, the prime minister told a gathering in the United States that his government was on the right track in the fight against crime and violence.

"We are now getting a better record in terms of reducing crime, better rates of convictions in the courts and the police are doing that without squeezing the trigger in the reckless way they did before," Golding said.

"This year we have seen a 15 per cent reduction in major crimes and that is in addition to a 15 per cent reduction last year ... . Most significantly, up to as recently as Sunday, June 5, homicides, year upon year, declined by 40 per cent," the prime minister said.

Golding's comments were buttressed by Police Commissioner Owen Ellington who last week noted that in the 12-month period between June 1, 2010 and May 31, 2011, Jamaica recorded 681 fewer murders than the previous 12 months.

"In the same period, there were significant declines in non-fatal gun attacks (shootings) by criminals and other serious crimes such as robbery, rape, break-ins and larceny," Ellington said in a letter dated June 16, 2011, to the men and women under his command.

"The decline in murder and shooting is the most significant that Jamaica has experienced in more than 30 years. The last time we saw such a sharp drop in homicide was 1981 following a spike in murders to 890 in 1980 when political violence attending the 1980 general election claimed many lives," said the police chief.

According to Ellington: "The gains we are seeing are not coincidental. They are the outcome of strategy supported by policy. Sustaining the murder-reduction programme is something to which we are fully committed."

The police commissioner said while what has been achieved so far is noteworthy and encouraging, it is far from the ultimate target of the police.

"Murders must fall to the level they were in the late 1960s to early 1970s - under 300 per year," vowed Ellington.