KINGSTON, Jamaica – As murders and major crimes continue to trend downwards, Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, says Jamaica is safer today than at any time in the past two decades.

“Murders decline by 19 per cent in 2024, following an eight per cent decline in 2023. This positive trajectory continued into 2025 with a 27 per cent decline in murders between January 1 and Feb 22, 2025, compared with the same period in 2024,” Holness said.

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“In fact, murders in January 2025 were 51 per cent lower than in January 2022. Jamaica is safer today than at any time in the past two decades, with major crimes recorded in 2024 being the lowest since the data started to be tracked in 2001,” he added.

Prime Minister Holness was speaking at the official launch of Infiniti Cooperative Credit Union Limited at AC Hotel by Marriott Kingston on Tuesday.

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He further noted that the Government will continue to invest in national security, as crime is one of the biggest impediments to the country’s economic growth.

Meanwhile, Holness said the frugal management of the economy has allowed the Administration to significantly invest in the Jamaica Constabulary Force by increasing its members to more than 14,000 and providing critical equipment that enables the members to carry out their jobs effectively.

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“It took us 10 years to move the establishment of the police force. The police force had somewhere in the region of about 10,000 officers, which is fairly very low relative to our crime situation and the demands on the country.

“Now, we have over 14,000 police officers; how is that supported? It is supported because we have greater fiscal space to carry the additional salaries and not just additional salaries, but to increase the salaries, increase the equipping of the police force so that they are able to deliver for us today the reductions we are seeing in murders and major crimes,” he added.

Infiniti is a merger of EduCom Cooperative Credit Union Limited and Gateway Cooperative Credit Union Limited.

–         JIS