An Inquiry into the Time Major Crimes are Committed in Jamaica

Abstract

Introduction: Major crimes are not linked to only parishes along the coast or major cities; they are also widespread in rural communities. The literature has yet to generate any information on the correlation between the time of day, day of the week, and month of the year in Jamaica.

Objective: This study, utilizing secondary data, seeks to determine the main times of the day, days of the week, and months of the year when robberies, shootings, and murders are reported to be reported.

Methods: This research evaluates the data collected on major crimes by the Jamaica Constabulary from 2010 to 2022. The data was recorded, stored and retrieved using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows, Version 28.0, and Microsoft Excel. The significance level used to determine statistical significance was less than 5% (0.05) at the 2-tailed significance level.

Results: The findings revealed that most murders, robberies and shootings occurred at 8 p.m. (or 20:00 hours) in Jamaica, followed by 21:00 hours (9.5%) and 19:00 hours (7.4%). Major crimes begin to increase from 6:00 p.m. and reach their zenith at 8:00 p.m., with the least number of cases occurring at 4:00 a.m. (1.8%). The probability of murders, shootings, and robberies is greatest in the evening (i.e., 0.308 or 30.8%, n=17,365 cases) compared to in the night (0.264 or 26.4%, n=14,916), afternoon (0.231 or 23.1%, n=13, 033), and morning (0.197 or 19.7%, n=11,142).

Conclusion: Major crimes (murder, robbery, shooting) continue to be a challenge in Jamaica post-COVID-19, and 8:00 on Friday and Saturday appears unsafe for the public.