The ministries of National Security and Education are working to develop a memorandum of understanding to address the problem of violence in the nation's schools.

The decision, which was announced by National Security Minister Senator Dwight Nelson last week during a meeting of the Kiwanis Club of North St Andrew, will go beyond the provisions under the Safe Schools Programme.

"We used to talk about safety in schools. We have to talk about violence in schools now, simply because the schools, to a large extent, are mirrors of the society, the communities from which the students come," Nelson said.

Noting the extent of the problem, he asked: "Who would have thought that a principal in a school would line up six boys and say to them, 'I am going to search you for weapons' and turn his back to pick up something and one of them takes out a knife and stabs him? Who would have thought that such atrocity could occur in a school?"

"We have incidents where weapons have been found in the bags of five-year-olds in preschool, where the weapon is placed there for the person, the father or somebody, to come at an opportune time to retrieve it," he said.

Strengthening patrol

As it relates to addressing crime nationally, Nelson said there are plans to look at strengthening border patrol off the country's coastline.

"We are going to look at our borders. A lot (of the guns) are coming in from the United States and from Haiti.

"We have a system in place now to deal with that Haiti situation. It is effective in stemming the flow of guns from there to Jamaica," he noted.

Other measures include accelerating the mandatory registration of subscriber information for cellular phone users in Jamaica and the implementation of a tracking system for all police vehicles.

"I want to know where every police car is, day and night. The commissioner of police and I have agreed to reinstitute bike patrols and bicycle patrol in appropriate areas," the national security minister said.

Schieving a competent

In addition, focus will be placed on achieving a competent and resourceful police force, with adequate training facilities; implementing the National Identification System; and revamping of the emergency number 119.

For the period January to June this year, 4,778 major crimes were reported, which represent a 19 per cent increase over the comparative period last year. However, murders declined by 11 per cent, with 650 murders committed for the six-month period.