The Institute for Criminal Justice and Security

The Organised Crime Watch
FROM THE DESK OF THE ORGANISED CRIME WATCH IN JAMAICA

What is organised crime?
Organised crime groups are essentially criminal businesses that exist to make money. Players often resort to extreme violence, intimidation and corruption to protect their businesses.
Why should I be concerned?
Organised crime reaches into communities and ruins lives by driving other crime, especially violent crimes and instilling fear. It is also one of the main factors fuelling Jamaica’s high rates of violent crimes.
How do I recognize it?
It manifests itself most graphically in extortion, sexual exploitation and violent crimes, but is also strongly linked to:

Arms trafficking
fraud
money laundering
immigration crimes
lottery scams
corruption
and other threats including armed robbery, kidnapping and vehicle crimes.

A snapshot of organised crime

The two most profitable and harmful enterprises controlled by organised crime groups are drugs trafficking and arms trafficking. Here are some disturbing facts illustrating the some of impact of organised crime in this country:

The government of Jamaica has noted that organised crime is a threat to the country’s national security
It is a major challenge to law enforcement and is viewed as one of the major factors fuelling the country’s high homicide rate
In Jamaica they operate at the community level where they both protect and harm the community, making the control of these groups very difficult.
It serves as a driver to criminality by highlighting some of the successes of a criminal lifestyle
Organised crime groups corrupts the political system, this challenges the efficiency of the democratic process
Groups in Jamaica are linked to gangs in other countries especially the US and the UK where they receive funding for their activities, they are therefore transnational in nature and requires international co-operation for effective control.

We want to send the strongest possible message that we are committed to making the Caribbean one of the least attractive locations in the world for organised criminals to operate.

USAID

Prof. Harriott is currently assisting the Jamaican Constabulary Force to develop a set of indicators and benchmarks for community policing.

There have been a series of meetings between the leaders of the police forces of the northern Caribbean region (with the exception of Cuba). This is now at the stage where MOUs are to be signed between the JCF and the Haitian National police, the Haitian National Police and the National Police of the Dominican Republic, and the JCF and the National Police of the Dominican Republic. We are involved in this process in which the USAID has taken a lead role. Discussions are now taking place on research support for the process.