Jamaica’s Police force is claiming some success in its bid to reduce the country’s alarming murder toll.

While the murder rate in Jamaica remains among the highest in the world, this year has seen a reduction in the overall number of homicides, compared to 2005.

Police records show that 1,523 people died violently in Jamaica last year.

Early this year, the leadership of the country’s Police force announced its intention to intensify its fight against crime.

The programme involved the implementation of several measures including hot spot policing, a strategy in which large numbers of security personnel are placed in volatile areas.

Crime stats

The latest crime figures show that 1216 people had been killed across the country.

This was 307, or nearly a quarter below the number killed in the same period last year.

However 136 murders last month made November the bloodiest month since the start of last year.

This was 14 more than the 122 killings recorded in November the year before.

April was the only other month in which the number of murders exceeded the number for the same month in 2005.

A senior official of the police high command is citing improved community support as a major factor towards some of the successes of Jamaica’s crime fighters.

Deputy Commissioner in charge of Intelligence, Charles Scarlot, says more reliable tips along with improved investigate strategies are making a positive impact on the crime fighting efforts of the security forces.

“We have been getting greater community support in terms of information around crime and criminal activities.”

“That has led to a situation where we are able to evaluate more effectively, the information we have with improved policing tactics and investigative methods”, he told BBC Caribbean.

This has also resulted in criminals being put behind bars.

“We have been able to present better prepared cases and as a result we have been able to secure convictions, particularly in a number of high profile cases.”

Deputy Commissioner Scarlot is confident that the reduction in crime will continue next year.