Just over a quarter of Jamaicans believe States of Public Emergency are an ineffective crime fighting tool.
That’s according to the latest Nationwide/Bluedot polls, powered by Total Tools.
Nora Gaye Banton has more in this report.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness has declared more States of Public Emergency in Jamaica than all his predecessors combined.
The Prime Minister, with the support of the Commissioner of Police and Chief of Defence Staff, has insisted the SOE is an effective tool in the country’s ongoing effort to combat violent crimes.
Since 2018, States of Public Emergency have been declared multiple times in St. James.
The enhanced security measure has also been utilised in sections of Kingston and St. Andrew, St. Catherine, Clarendon, Westmoreland, Hanover and St. Ann.
But a combined total of 44% of registered voters told the Bluedot pollsters they do not believe the security measure is effective.
25% of respondents indicated they did not believe the measure was effective at all, rating it at the lowest score of 1.
4% of respondents rated it at a 2, 7$ rated it at 3 and 8% rated it at a 4.
17% of respondents gave the measure an average score of 5.
A combined 30% of respondents say the measure is effective.
That’s a 14% point gap between those who says SOE is effective in fighting crime and those who believe it’s not.
The highest level of dissatisfaction with the States of Public Emergency was recorded in St. James.
55% of voters in that parish say SOE is ineffective.
Only 21% of respondents in St. James indicated confidence in the crime fighting measure.
That’s noteworthy since St. James has been subjected to multiple SOE since 2018.
48% of respondents in Trelawny say the measure is ineffective, 40% of voters in Portland and 39% of voters in Kingston and St. Andrew had a similar view.
The Nationwide/Bluedot poll was conducted between January 19 and February 6.
It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.25 percent.
One-thousand 878 registered voters were polled.
Meanwhile, at least 40% of Jamaicans say they are not confident the government and the police can maintain the downward trend in crime this year.
Only 27% of respondents indicated they were extremely confident the police’s efforts would continue to yield success.
33% were neutral on the question.
Those who identified themselves as JLP supporters were much more confident that the downward trend would continue, with nearly 50% indicating extreme confidence.
Only 16% of respondents identifying themselves as PNP supporters expressed extreme confidence that the trend would continue.
Credit: Source link