Police crime statistics for July, released Thursday, show St Andrew South having the highest number of murders in police divisions across the island, at 21, as well as an overall seven per cent drop in "cleared-up" murder cases.

St Andrew South - with the highest concentration of volatile areas in the Corporate Area - stretches from Duhaney Park, includes Marverly and Waterhouse, to depressed communities along Spanish Town Road such as Majesty Gardens and Payne Land.

St James, with 19 persons killed in July, closely followed St Andrew South in the continued alarming cases of murder gripping the country.

According to the police, 125 people were reported killed during the month, against 135 over same period last year.
But while there has been a marginal reduction in murders for the month, the cleared up rate has also dropped. Thirteen murder cases were solved this July, reflecting a cleared up rate of only ten per cent of murders committed, police figures said, while last year July 23 cases were cleared up during the comparable period.

Meanwhile, in the Corporate Area St Andrew Central - with 13 murders - accounted for the second highest rate during July followed by St Andrew North at nine. KingstonCcentral, with three murders, had the lowest. A total of 54 people were reported killed in the Corporate Area during July 2008.

Outside of the Corporate Area, the parish of St Catherine proved to be the most violent, having a total 27 reported murders in the month. The St Catherine North division reported 13 murder cases while St Catherine South had 14.

Nine people were killed in Clarendon, three in Westmoreland and Trelawny respectively and four in St Mary during the month. Portland was the only division spared with no reported murder case.

According to police figures, reported rape cases for the Kingston Metropolitan Region (KMR), which includes St Catherine, stood at 16 for the month. Six of them occurred in the largely rural St Andrew North division and four in St Catherine North.

St James, Trelawny, Westmoreland and Manchester all had five reported rape cases each, while Clarendon recorded four cases in July, the police report said.

There was also a spike in instances of carnal abuse across the island in July with 32 cases against 11 over the same period last year. Half of the incidents this year occurred in the KMR, according to police figures. Portland, with five, had the highest number of carnal abuse cases outside of the KMR.

The fear factor

Feeding the multitude

DANGEROUS PETS