Crime impacts differently at various levels of the society.
Andrew Green, Staff Reporter
THE TOP 20 per cent of households in Jamaica in consumption levels suffered substantially more criminal victimisation than the poorest 20 per cent, according to 2002 Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions (JSLC).
Police records show that Jamaicans living in a few inner-city urban communities suffer disproportionately from murders and other personal attacks, but the JSLC showed that other forms of crime, and particularly theft, were highest in households with higher consumption patterns. Prepared by the Planning Institute of Jamaica, the JSLC is based on survey responses from households across the island.
VICTIMISATION
"Approximately 12.1 per cent of all households surveyed in the JSLC 2002 had been victims of crime," the report stated. Victimisation stood at 14.7 per cent in the richest 20 per cent of households and 9.7 per cent in the poorest 20 per cent.
"We need to classify crime," said George Overton, senior director for special projects at the Guardsman Group. "People at the lower end of the scale are more exposed to crimes against the person. They are more likely to be physically assaulted or injured in the event of a crime.
But households at higher consumption levels suffer from more crimes against property, he said. They are more likely to be hit by fraud, extortion or being swindled.
Theft of valuables is the crime households experienced most frequently, the JSLC report stated. About four per cent of households reported being burgled.
"I have lost three garden forks from my back verandah over the last three years," said Hyacinth Gayle, a housewife in the middle income Eltham View community outside Spanish Town. With the latest burglary occurring within the past month, she said, "This is a petty thief, not a big time criminal."
Jamaicans have become 'numb' to such crime," Mr. Overton said. Losing household possessions such as garden hoses to petty criminals is now accepted as normal.
"We did not report it," Mrs. Gayle said. "I didn't think there was anything the police could do."
She said her family had beefed up their burglar bar protection last week and they planned to change their entire burglar bar protection system as their thief appeared to have become more bold.
Mr. Overton said his experience at Guardsman suggest that the overall level of crime in Jamaica had not been declining, as police statistics suggested. He said the appearance of a decline had come about because increasingly, Jamaicans did not see it as worthwhile to report their criminal victimisation to the police.
CRIME LEVEL
Much of the petty crime in residential communities is being perpetrated by drug addicts needing quick cash, Mr. Overton said. "In the commercial sector we are seeing a more sophisticated and organised type of criminal."
Murder is a good indicator of the overall crime level as it was the most serious crime and will be reported, the Guardsman executive said. The island's murder rate remains stubbornly high.
According to police statistics, a total of 975 people were murdered in 2003. But the rate this year is running ahead of last year's and last week alone, 22 people were murdered. The survey showed that households in rural areas suffered 1.7 times the level of theft that Kingston households suffered. And disproportionately, the victims were in the top 20 per cent of level households in consumption levels. Asked whether they felt they or a member of their household might be the victim of a crime in the next 12 months, 45.9 per cent of household heads said they expected to be victimised.
Those at the highest consumption levels reported the highest level of fear. Half of the poorest households reported that they stood no chance of being a victim, compared with 29 per cent of those in the upper levels.
About 70 per cent of those in Kingston reported they felt there was a threat to their safety, compared to 49 per cent of those in rural areas.
"I feel no physical threat," said Andrea Lue of the Danvers Pen community in St. Thomas. With her only burglar bar being a faith in God, she said, "I am comfortable."
