The crime rate in Jamaica has always been on the higher side, but in the past 20-30 years it has gotten much worse, and it is now at a point where it could be considered dangerous to visit the country. Gangs, the government, the police, and some of the locals are all a part of why Jamaica is such a crime-filled country. The port and Falmouth aren’t the issue, it’s the other parts of Jamaica that have the gangs who are associating with political parties that then impact the entirety of Jamaica.
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| This is a graph of the murder rate in Jamaica from 1970-2000 |
In the first 6 days of 2018, Jamaica experienced: 38 murders, 16 shootings, and 17 robberies. “Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced a state of emergency for St. James Parish on Thursday (1/18) and deployed the military to the area amid a rise in violent crime.” (CNN, 1) Because these were based off of issues within the country, tourists were never caught in the crossfire. Unfortunately, over the last year, these shootings have been getting closer to more populated tourist areas. Gangs are the far majority of the people causing shootings in Jamaica, which is affecting the amount of tourists that come to visit. This is a big problem for Jamaica because tourism is how a big portion of Jamaicans gain income.
The gangs and politicians being associated with each other began long before 1962, (when Jamaica gained its independence from Britain). “Organized crime in Jamaica is full of perils, from gangs that have the muscle to stand up to the state, to gang-leaders who have helped put members of the political elite in office.” (csmoniter, 1) The two political parties (Jamaica Labour Party/JLP and People’s National Party/PNP) would stone, beat, and stab each other in order to gain control of the island. They created rival gangs to fight the opposing supporters, which slowly evolved into “organized criminal networks.” (Canadian Business, 1) Ever since then, it has been apparent that the gangs and who gets elected into the Parliament are correlated.
The National Strategic Anti-Gang Unit has been a big part of getting rid of the gangs. In 2016, they were able to give the police a list of 258 gangs across Jamaica, and arrest 356 gang members. One of the gangs was called One Order which was based in Spanish Town, and they had 3 of their members arrested, each sentenced to at least 5 years in prison. The Jamaican Posse is one of the largest gangs in Jamaica with 13-20 thousand members, and they have a strong affiliation with both the PNP and JLP because of their size and power.
Over the years gang violence has become institutionalized, which in turn has raised the murder rate immensely. Although they were “part of” the government from the beginning, violence between each other as well as pedestrians is what has made the murder rate go up so much. “What’s even more frightening is that the gangs apparently enjoy protection from the authorities because of their political influence.” (J.com, 1) There is crime that happens for revenge or political purposes, but there is also the crime against the things a lot of people in Jamaica, unfortunately, don’t believe in and don’t support; the LGBTQ community for example.
Being part of the LGBTQ community in Jamaica is extremely dangerous, for many reasons. TIME Magazine titled Jamaica “most homophobic country” and although being gay isn’t technically illegal, it is much more than frowned upon. Buggery (anal sex) is seen as a crime, and so is “acts of gross indecency” between men. People who are part of the LGBTQ community are kicked out of their homes, beat by police, publicly shamed, and shunned. Almost every time, none of these things are investigated and no arrests are made. It could be considered that part of the crime is that the police support these acts. The far majority of Jamaicans do not support being gay and would prefer it be illegal. However, these things don’t happen all across Jamaica even though it can seem that way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaHSKJReCXE: This video is about the life of the people in LGBTQ community in Jamaica.
Crime occurs mainly in Kingston, Spanish Town, and Montego Bay which is in St. James Parish. Falmouth doesn’t have any significant crime. We stayed in Falmouth, where the port is. Falmouth is definitely the safest of those 3 cities. The security in Falmouth is more than in Montego Bay and Kingston because of the port and tourists within the city. Many of the people we interviewed had mentioned that the security due to the port is a big reason as to why Falmouth is much safer than any other place in Jamaica.
We were fortunate enough not to experience or witness any criminal acts during our stay in Jamaica. However, some of our interviews contained a lot of information on the crime in Montego Bay and Kingston, because it does affect all of Jamaica. Jamaicans rely so much on their tourists, that’s how most of them gain income. However, if the crime doesn’t slow down or nothing improves, it will continue to be an extremely dangerous place and foreigners will be warned to not visit.
This creates multiple problems: There could be more people living in poverty, more unemployed people than there has ever been in Jamaica, more people with weak family structures, and so many more lives could be in danger. The culture is so rich, and there is so much to learn about the history of this country. People do want to learn about it, but if their safety could potentially be in danger, they will not choose to go. As for a solution, I personally would’ve said to have the government pass some new laws or start an organization that can do that with the help of the police. However, if the government and their security is part of what is putting people in danger, who is going to solve this?
Work Cited
Smith-Spark, Laura. “Tourists warned after shootings in Jamaica's Montego Bay.” CNN,
Cable News Network, 20 Jan. 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/01/20/americas/jamaica-montego-bay-emergency-tourists-intl/index.html.
“Jamaica attacks: a legacy of ties between politicians and gangs.” The Christian Science
Monitor, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 May 2010, www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2010/0525/Jamaica-attacks-a-legacy-of-ties-between-politicians-and-gangs.
“Jamaica's Mixture of Gangs and Politics Causes Grave Problem with U.S.”
“38 murders in first six days of 2018.” Lead Stories | Jamaica Gleaner, 8 Jan. 2018,
jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20180108/38-murders-first-six-days-2018.
Porter, Tom. “Tourists have been warned to stay in their resorts in Jamaica as soldiers
were deployed to the streets.” Newsweek, 22 Jan. 2018, www.newsweek.com/tourists-advised-not-leave-resorts-jamaica-after-murder-spike-us-state-786057.
Limited, Jamaica Observer. “Gangs still responsible for most murders in 2016.”
Jamaica Observer, www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Gangs-still-responsible-for-most-murders-in-2016_86403.
Boa, Larry. “Top 10: Notorious Gangs.” AskMen, www.askmen.com/top_10/entertainment/top-10-notorious-gangs_9.html.
