By Claudia Gardner, Gleaner WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
HEAD OF the Hanover Police Division, Deputy Superintendent Paul Stanton, says he is uncomfortable with the parish's murder rate, despite the fact that Hanover has registered fewer homicides last year, when compared to 2003.
"The rate of crime in Hanover is not anything which we would like to boast about, notwithstanding the fact that in the area of homicides we are less than we were last year (2004 when compared to 2003)," the crime chief told The Gleaner in an interview earlier this week.
In 2003: "We were looking at 16 homicides as opposed to 14 this year (2004). We are not really comfortable with that at all, because for a peaceful parish like Hanover we should not be registering so many homicides."
Despite his discomfort with the crime level, DSP Stanton noted that Hanover was still one of the safest parishes in which to live. He said that Hanover's relatively low murder rate remained second only to the parish of Portland.
"Hanover is the only parish in Jamaica which has experienced a decline in its overall crime statistics when compared to the previous year," he said. "We have been in dialogue with the citizens of the parish who are the biggest stakeholders in the fight against crime. They trust us more and are giving us valuable information to aid in the fight against criminal activities," he added.
While noting that there were no gangs in Hanover, DSP Stanton warned that there was no safe haven in the parish for criminals.
Statistics for other major crimes in the parish in 2004 are as follows: 20 reports of shootings; six cases of carnal abuse; 16 reported cases of rape, an increase of four when compared to the previous year.
There were also 35 reported cases of robberies, up from 15 in 2003.
