(Jamaica Gleaner) An Inter-American Development Bank study has revealed that Jamaica leads the Caribbean in the number of inmates who were armed with weapons when they committed a crime.
And it is not during killings that the high percentage of the inmates have strapped themselves.
Fifty-one per cent of non-homicides, the report said, involved weapons, while 63 per cent of homicides involved weapons. The study said a total of 56 per cent of all crimes committed by inmates involved a weapon.
The IDB estimates that eight out of every 100 civilians living in Jamaica has a firearm, the fourth highest in the Caribbean, yet it surpasses all other countries studied for presence of weapons in non-homicidal crimes.
The study probed where inmates obtained their first firearm. Fifty-five per cent said it was provided by a family or friend. The reported revealed, too, that 36 per cent obtained their first gun between ages 14 and 17.
The report covers 2016 to 2019.
Not only are the inmates using weapons, but a number of them are using drugs and alcohol mere hours before they carry out their crimes.
According to the study, a drug or alcohol was used within six hours prior to the crime in 21 per cent of the cases. Specifically relating to murders, the figure was recorded at 18 per cent.
In the prisons themselves, more than 40 per cent of the inmates admitted to using drugs and alcohol, and over 70 per cent said they had seen inmates use banned substances.
“Respondents report that the majority of drugs are brought in by prison staff,” the report stated.
“There are some indicators that there is a high alcohol and drug use in the prisons in the Caribbean, and that creates problems for the re-entry process (into society) because people with addiction or strong dependence in drugs, when they re-enter society, they will pursue again heavy drinking or heavy drug use and this might create more problems and produce more recidivism,” Dr Marcelo Bergman, director of the Centro de Estudios Latinoamericanos sobre Inseguridad y Violencia at the Universidad Tres de Febrero, Argentina, argued.
According to the IDB study, it appears that countries such as Jamaica have been going about dealing with crime using the wrong approach.
“Incarceration in the Caribbean is neither effective nor efficient in producing greater safety or just outcomes,” the report stated.
The IDB says inmates often return to prison shortly after being released.
PRIOR INCARCERATIONS
A further look at the numbers provided by the report revealed that 60 per cent of the prison population had prior incarcerations. Some 32 per cent had had between two and three prior incarcerations while 28 per cent had more than three, the reported revealed.
“Too often, prisons are seen as places to house offenders and are not recognised for their potential to help reduce crime,” criminologist Dr Randy Seepersad of The University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus, stated.
“Prisons received those persons who are most in need of intervention and whether they go on recidivate depends very much on what happens within the prisons.”
IDB’s director for Caribbean Countries, R. Brian Langrin, said Jamaica is among three countries that spend the most money to maintain prison facilities.
Overall, Jamaica, for example, has an imprisonment rate of 138 per 100,000, which is below the international average of 145 per 100,000.
Jamaica had the highest proportion of inmates who accessed post-release services.
According to the most up-to-date data available, Trinidad and Tobago has the highest percentage of inmates on remand (60 per cent in 2018), followed by Suriname (50 per cent in 2013), with Jamaica having the lowest (23 per cent in 2016).
Jamaica had the lowest average age of imprisonment (29 years).
