Lloyd Williams, Senior Associate EditorThe year 2001 was as bloody as they tend to come in Jamaica these days, starting with election year 1980 when the murder figure shot up from 351 the year before, to 889.
Incidentally, it fell to 490 in 1981.
According to the Jamaica Constabulary, 1,139 people were murdered in 2001 a total of 789 or 69 per cent by the gun.
There were 42 double murders and five triple murders. The figure in 2000 was 887 murders and in 1999 it was 849.
Next to the gun, the knife was the most common weapon used, accounting for 206 or 18 per cent of the murders.
REPRISAL KILLINGS
The police blamed 368 or 32 per cent of the murders on reprisals, 331 or 29 per cent on domestic rows and 213 or 19 per cent on drug/gang-related quarrels.
The police say they cleared up 478 or 42 per cent of the 1,139 murders in 2001, but, be warned, what they mean by "cleared-up" is a mere arrest. The suspect might not even have been charged, much more convicted.
The 1,139 murder victims included 109 women, 13 children, 15 police personnel, 13 prisoners, and two tourists.
Up to December 2, 2001, the police had shot dead 141 people, compared to 134 for all of 2000 but the end-of-year figure was not available.
September was the bloodiest month in 2001 with 127 murders being recorded.
In addition there were 73 suicides in 2001, compared to 80 in 2000 and 53 in 1999.
Also, 1,183 shootings were reported to the police in 2001, an increase of 17 per cent over the 1,012 in 2000.
FIREARMS
The police say they seized 546 firearms in 2001 compared to 486 in 2000. The figure included 26 rifles, 15 submachine guns, 266 pistols and 118 revolvers.
A total of 98 guns were reported stolen in 2001 the police said. These were 30 pistols and 59 revolvers.
Rapes went up by five per cent to 912 from 870 in 2000, but carnal abuse went down by 29 per cent from 434 in 2000 to 306 in 2001.
