The Government has implemented strategies to reduce crime and increase public order through the Plan Secure Jamaica Programme, which focuses on 10 strategic areas. These are: crime, gangs and organised violence; public order; community safety; justice; crisis response and resilience; corruption; territorial integrity; cyberdefence; critical infrastructure protection; and economic and environmental security.
Strategies have been developed to modernise the legislative framework, improve leadership and management of the various responsible agencies, increase funding for equipment and staff, apply more technology, and develop local community participation and stakeholder support. The estimated cost of the security programme was $176 billion over seven years, from financial year 2016/2017 to fiscal year 2022/2023.
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Plan Secure Jamaica Programme
The Government has implemented strategies to reduce crime and increase public order through the Plan Secure Jamaica Programme.
The comprehensive Plan was developed in 2016 and sets out the investment, technological development, institutional and legislative changes needed to equip the security forces to carry out efficient and successful law enforcement.
Plan Secure Jamaica focuses on 10 strategic areas – crime, gangs and organised violence; public order; community safety; justice; crisis response and resilience; corruption; territorial integrity; cyberdefence; critical infrastructure protection; and economic and environmental security.
Cross-cutting strategies have been developed in all 10 areas to modernise the legislative framework, improve leadership and management of the various responsible
agencies, increase funding for equipment and staff, apply more technology, and develop local community participation and stakeholder support.
The estimated cost of the security programme was $176 billion over seven years, from financial year 2016/2017 to fiscal year 2022/2023.
Some of the main elements of the initiative, which is aimed at strengthening the national security system, include increasing the number of government-installed cameras under the JamaicaEye Programme from the current 860; upgrading transport with the provision and improved management of fit-for-purpose vehicles for the security forces; expanding training programmes, and boosting staff numbers.
Plan Secure Jamaica also involves upgrading and modernising the Institute of Forensic Science and Legal Medicine to do ballistics and DNA analyses.
Significant progress is being made in constructing a $547-million state-of-the-art forensic pathology autopsy suite in Kingston.
As part of the Plan, the telecommunications system of the police has been expanded, electronic Station Records Management and Case Management Systems have been put in place, electronic traffic ticketing introduced, and body-worn cameras have been acquired and deployed for members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).
In modernising the legislative framework to support the work of the security forces, improve public order and safety, and reduce crime and violence, changes will be made to the Immigration Restriction (Commonwealth Citizens and Aliens Act), and the Law Reform (Zones of Special Operations) (Amendment) ZOSO Bill is being introduced.
Other legislation prioritised for conclusion this year includes amendments to the Fingerprint Act and further amendment to the Proceeds of Crime Act to include provisions for unexplained wealth.
Some laws have been passed as part of the effort. These include the Anti-Gang (Amendment) Act; the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) law and Regulations; the Corrections (Amendment) Act, 2021; the Trafficking in Persons (Amendment) Act; and the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022.
