PIOJ: St Andrew led Jamaica in Category 1 crime reports for 2025

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Police took 1,528 people into custody for Category 1 offences across Jamaica in 2025, including 481 held for murder and 395 for shooting. Another 231 were arrested for robbery and 172 for aggravated assault, according to the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ).

The figures appear in the 2025 Economic and Social Survey Jamaica, PIOJ’s yearly review. That report points to steep drops in several major Category 1 offences last year: murders were down 41.0 per cent to 675 cases, shootings fell 30.8 per cent to 696, and rape was lower by 26.3 per cent at 325 incidents. Aggravated assault, however, climbed 41.3 per cent to 465 cases. Robbery was up 8.5 per cent and break-ins rose 17.0 per cent.

By parish, St Andrew posted the highest share of reported Category 1 crimes at 19.3 per cent. St Catherine came next at 16.0 per cent, with Kingston at 9.7 per cent. Those three areas together made up 45.0 per cent of Category 1 offences recorded islandwide.

Hanover saw the sharpest cut in Category 1 crime, down 36.6 per cent, while Westmoreland fell 36.0 per cent. Portland registered the biggest climb at 27.5 per cent, and Manchester rose 12.0 per cent.

Arrest totals followed a similar pattern. St Andrew led with 297 detentions, ahead of St Catherine’s 197 and Kingston’s 175.

PIOJ also counted 5,859 people harmed by Category 1 crime in 2025. Shootings left the most victims at 1,286, then break-ins at 1,195, larceny at 983, and robbery at 899. St Andrew again topped the list with 1,263 victims, followed by St Catherine with 1,041 and Kingston with 637 — half of all Category 1 victims nationally when combined, at 50.2 per cent.