Monday, December 15, 2014 | 10:55 AM
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica — Member of the National Partnership Council, Professor Alvin Wint, has expressed concern with the manner in which crime statistics are being reported by the media.
“There is very little recording in the media that there has been progress [reduction of murders],” the University of the West Indies (UWI) professor said.
Intentional homicide statistics presented by the group has shown a marked decline in murders since 2009, which had recorded the highest figure of 1,683 within the past 11 years.
To date, the year 2003 has recorded the lowest count of 975 murders.
The homicide statistics has also shown that up to Thursday, December 5, there was a total of 930 murders since the start of this year.
According to Professor Wint, the media has continually highlighted that the country may not meet its target of under 1000 murders for this year, while at the same time has not focused on the fact that there has been a marked reduction over the past few years.
“The media report that I hear is that we might not get to less than the fewer than 1,000 murders for this year, and that’s true. We might not, but I think that report should also be accompanied by the fact that we have seen a significant decline over the last years,” said Professor Wint.
He argued that a balanced perspective is needed in order not to frustrate those who are working on seeing some progress.
“We need to have a balance perspective on this, otherwise it is going to be very frustrating for those who are working very hard to see some progress in the country,” he stressed.
Professor Wint was addressing a parish consultation on the Partnership For Jamaica (PFJ) agreement which was held at the Sunset Beach Resort and Spa in Montego Bay St James on Thursday.
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Media not reporting statistics on reduction in murders, says UWI professor
