State Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Senator Abka Fitz-Henley, is hailing the work of the security forces and the Holness administration’s implementation of key elements of Plan Secure Jamaica for a sixty per cent reduction in murders since 2017. 

Minister Fitz-Henley made the comments while speaking with the media after a function at Jamaica House earlier this week to mark the launch of oversight for the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA). 

He noted that following the resumption of an upward spiral in murders in 2015, which continued until 2017, a year that culminated in 1,647 people being murdered in Jamaica, murders plummeted to 673 in 2025, representing a sixty per cent decline. The downward trend in murders has continued this year, with more than eight months having elapsed. Murders this year have declined by over 20 per cent.

 Minister Fitz-Henley says no praise is too high for the men and women of the security forces, who have contributed significantly to the major decline in murders and continue to put their lives on the line daily to protect the Jamaican citizenry.

 “The over 20 per cent decline in murders this year is to be welcomed. However, it must also be contemplated in the context of a 60 per cent decline in murders since 2017, which is essentially over the life of the current administration. We inherited an uptick in murders, but Prime Minister Holness and Dr Chang crafted a set of strategic policies that also contributed significantly to bringing murders under some semblance of control. 

“It is no coincidence that, this year, the Global Peace Index named Jamaica the most peaceful country in the Caribbean”, Minister Fitz-Henley commented.

 Minister Fitz-Henley says there is still more progress to be achieved, but a sixty per cent reduction in murders is no small feat and provides a good base from which to push for a society that is largely free from the scourge of violent crime. “The 60 per cent decline in murders over the two terms of the current administration shows that positive change is possible when strategic policies are implemented. These include investment in the national security apparatus, the reconfiguration of security deployment, strengthening the intelligence capabilities of the security forces, expanding boots on the ground, more expansive border protection and a suite of legislative changes, including harsher sanctions for gun crimes and improvements to the anti-gang legislation”, Minister Fitz-Henley observed. 

Plan Secure Jamaica is a whole-of-government plan that focuses its efforts on ten strategic subject areas. It was tabled in Parliament by Prime Minister Andrew Holness shortly after the administration returned to office and was outlined in detail during the Prime Minister’s 2017/2018 Budget Presentation. Plan Secure Jamaica is a comprehensive, whole-of-government national security strategy designed to improve public order, community safety and resilience across the country. The initiative centres on ten core subject areas, including public order and community safety, justice and judicial processes, crisis response and resilience, anti-corruption measures, territorial integrity and border security, cyber defence and cybersecurity, critical infrastructure protection, economic security and environmental security.