Children implicated in 875 major crimes over four-year period
Police Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson says that 875 major crimes which were committed in Jamaica from 2019 to 2022 were carried out by perpetrators between 15 and 17 years of age.
Addressing the Jamaica Constabulary Force's (JCF) digital press briefing on Tuesday, Anderson noted that those crimes included 256 breaches of the Firearms Act, along with 79 murders, 66 shootings, 175 rapes, 175 break-ins, 89 robberies and 65 cases of aggravated assault.
He also stressed that while the police are doing youth intervention through the JCF's Community Safety and Security Branch and the police youth club programme, other stakeholders must get on board to curb violent tendencies in children from an early age.
“These are individuals, who, if we do not act collectively, are getting into an early career of violence and crime. We are bringing this to the nation's attention because as a society, we have to decide how we are going to save them,” Anderson told the briefing.
“We all must take this matter more seriously, as the pandemic of violence is infecting our children. They are not merely innocent victims of violence; in far too many instances, children and adolescents are actually the perpetrators themselves,” he added.
According to the JCF's latest crime figures to date, there has been a 4.6 per cent increase in major crimes since January, with murders up by 7.5 per cent, robberies up by 20 per cent, and break-ins up by nine per cent.
However, shootings are down by six per cent and rapes by 12 per cent.
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