Above: National Security Minister Peter Bunting (JIS Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

A “major” reduction in crime is a “strategic objective” of the Jamaican government, according to National Security Minister Peter Bunting.

The Minister, who said tackling crime was an “absolute priority” and that the country needed a drastic shift in its crime-fighting paradigm.

A significant part of that strategy will be “removing the profit from crime,” he said, along with creating an “elite task force to bring the full force of the law against the kingpins and facilitators of major crimes, including lawyers, real estate brokers, bankers and accountants.”

Bunting, who spoke in-depth about his crime-fighting strategy in an interview with Caribbean Journal earlier this year, said the government intends to expand the Proceeds of Crime Act, which gives courts the power to seize the assets of those who facilitate major crimes.

He said a substantial reduction in crime and anti-social behaviour is a prerequisite for the sustained expansion of the economy. The large pool of unemployed young people is a factor in the country’s crime rate, he said.

Bunting was speaking on Saturday at a banquet at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston.