Area Two police division records 53 murders

The parishes of St Ann, St Mary and Portland up to August 12 of this year have recorded a combined 53 murders.
The parishes make up the Area Two police division.
The latest statistics were issued in a release by the police’s information arm, the Corporate Communication Arm (CCU).
The statistics provided by the Statistics and Information Management Unit of the JCF shows that the national murder figure up to August 12 is 928. This figure represents an increase of 184 murders, when compared to the 744 murders recorded between January 1 and August 12, 2016.
A breakdown of the murder tally for the parishes comprising the Area Two division has seen St Ann recording a total of 38 murders up to August 12, when compared to 33 for the same period last year.
Over in St Mary, the parish has reported 11 murders when compared to 21 killings recorded for the period, January 1 to August 12, 2016.
The parish of Portland up to August 12 this year also tallied a murder figure of four, when compared to five murders that occurred for the same time last year.
Elsewhere on the north coast, Trelawny has seen a decrease of only one in its murder rate. The parish has up to August 12, a total of 14 murders in comparison to the 15 murders recorded for the same time last year.
The murder rate in St James continues to spiral out of control as the parish has an increase in its murder figure. For the period of January 1 to August 12, 2017, the parish has reported 184, when compared to the 153 murders recorded during the same period last year. This represents an increase of 31.
St James has recorded the highest number of murders for any parish up to August 12 this year.