Murder rates in Jamaica 1970 – 2011

There has been much commentary on my recent post regarding “special police” squad many of whom I have described as death squads, carrying out the mandate of the various governments in power. One blogger commented that the reason the PNP is featured prominently is due to the fact  they were in power for longer. Another blogger indicated that maybe its because the PNP governments have  been more serious about crime fighting that the JLP, why they have formed more “special” squads.

I have since decided to publish another  post showing the number of Jamaicans that have been murdered during the last 42 years. Take a look at the information and form your own opinion, on the effectiveness of these special squads and whether or not they have made an impact on murders.

Yr	# of Murders
1970	152
1971	145
1972	170
1973	227
1974	195
1975	266
1976	367
1977	409
1978	381
1979	351
1980	899
1981	490
1982	405
1983	424
1984	484
1985	Unavailable
1986	449
1987	442
1988	414
1989	439
1990	543
1991	561
1992	629
1994	690
1995	780
1996	Unavailable
1997	Unavailable
1998	953
1999	849
2000	887
2001	Unavailable
2002	1045
2003	975
2004	1471
2005	1674
2006	1340
2007	1574
2008	1601
2009	1680
2010	1428
2011	1125

Special Police Squads formed to fight crime

Below is a listing of all the special police squads that I have on record that have been formed since 1976  to deal with crime in Jamaica.  The majority of  these special police squads have been akin to death squads , targeting and carrying out the mandate of the government.

Note: The notorious Suppression of Crime Act was put in place in 1974 and lasted for 20 years and is said to be largely responsible for the situation in we find ourselves in today.

You can form your own opinion based on the information presented.

Special  police squads	Yr formed	Government
Echo Squad	1976	PNP
Ranger Squad	1980	PNP
Eradication Squad	1981	JLP
Area 4 Task Force	1986-1987	JLP
ACID	1993	PNP
Operation Crest	1995	PNP
Operation Dovetail	1997	PNP
Orangized Crime Unit	1998	PNP
Operation Intrepid	1999	PNP
Special Anti Crime Task Force (SACTF)	Oct 1999	PNP
Crime Management Unit (CMU)	2000	PNP
Major Investigative Team	2002	PNP
Operation Kingfish	2004	PNP
???	2012	PNP

Peter Phillips cannot come up with a credible budget ?

In what may be an unprecedented move, the much anticipated budget from the finance minster, will not be presented in April as is customary  and instead that presentation will now be done in May.

Dr Phillips has given a number of reasons for this delay.

1. Members of the house needs to review the PSWG tax documents.
2. The IMF agreement, which is being worked on.

The IMF wants tax reforms completed as part of the conditions required  before any such agreement can solidified.  Dr Phillips appears also to be struggling on  how to deal with these tax measures, which includes taxes basic food items, while trying to meet the demands of the party leader , which includes protecting the poor.

Its going to be a tough call and while I cannot recall this being ever done before, I think it prudent for the minister to take the time to do a proper  budget vs the sloppy process that has in place, which have seen the Finance Minister present two supplementary estimates of expenditures in less than six weeks.

 

Can Peter Phillips cross it

Is Jamaica in danger of becoming a one party state ?

Concerns have been expressed about this given, what has been taking place in the country. It is being suggested that the recent actions of the police , which has resulted in over 50 civilians death is not signs of the state using the police to bring people ” in line” and consolidate its power. The recent win in the local government elections will now strengthen the government stranglehold on virtually all resources and its could use this dominance and the cops to complete the job.

It is being suggested that this is how the process begins and when you add to that, the special death squads that are to be formed as announced by the Minister of National Security, all the pieces are being put in place to facilitate this process.

Could this be happening right under our noses ?

Andrew Holness ignored my suggestions, so says Mike Henry !

Mike Henry has taken a swipe at party leader of the JLP, Andrew Holness,  stating that if the party leader had taken on board his advice the election results could have been a lot different.

Mike has indicated that they were not ready and did not have the financial back necessary for the recent local government elections

In fact Mike Henry said he had suggested that local government should have been used to test the waters prior to the general elections in December, but Andrew ignored his advice resulting in the massive December loss.

Milton Brown, who won in the local government elections said the party machinery was NOT ready for the local government elections and no money was in place to support the recent elections.

 

It seems like Andrew Holness future is now in question .

Government to hold Commissioner of police accountable for fatal shootings.

The Minister of National Security, today announced that he will be holding the commissioner of police and the high command accountable for the reduction in fatal shootings. This comes against the background of protest against the actions of the local cops who have killed over 50 Jamaicans since the start of the year.

The wanton killing of civilians by cops is totally unacceptable and as such the officers involved in these operations MUST be held responsible for their actions. The time it takes to investigate these cases and bring charges against these murderers is way too long, which allows them time to flee before they are brought to justice.

This issue must be addressed by the legislation as its allowing murderous cops to get away with hmm murder !

The plan is now coming together as I had indicated in previous post over the last few weeks.

PNP CRUSHES JLP IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS !!

The ruling PNP has crushed the JLP in the just concluded local government elections and has taken the prized KSAC from the JLP. The is the second successive beating that Andrew has received since he was elevated to the leadership of the JLP.

The JLP needs a winning strategy as obviously what they are doing is not working, having been rejected for the second time in 3 months.

Solicitor General – Douglas Leys Resigns

The man who featured prominently in the Dudus /Manatt inquiry will go into pre-retirement  leave at the end of this week. This will pave the way for this government to select its own Solicitor General.

 

 

India coal rush and grinding poverty, an expose` !

The country’s dependence on coal is leaving a dirty trail of violence, landlessness and poverty.

India is hungry for energy. Over 173 power plants, all of them coal-fired, will be built to power the nation’s high-tech industries and booming cities.

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/101east/2012/03/201232175729409698.html

Is Owen Ellington job on the line ?

Given the out of control situation , which has recently appeared in the police force, where marauding trigger happy cops in uniform have been going around murdering innocent citizens, there has been much disquiet about Owen Ellington “new” leadership style.

There has been some sinister and disturbing report about what is really taking place within the force, where certain actions are being taken to evoke outage amongst the public , which is hoped will lead to the ousting of the current Commissioner of Police.

Mr Ellington cannot afford to sit by and allow rouge elements in the force to succeed in their sinister venture and should go public and let us know what is really going on. The police force was being transformed with corrupt officers being arrested , charged and dismissed from the force during his watch. He has done a very good job in this respect and has won the confidence of the public, whereby persons were freely providing valuable information to the police, leading to many arrest for various crimes.

In one month( March) , this trust and confidence have almost completely been reversed, which has left the general public nervous and worried and seeking answers to the sudden rise of ” killers” in the police force.

We the public should not allow these rouge elements to succeed, simply because we DO NOT want to go back from whence we came.