Dear Editor:

Since the end of the State of Emergency in July, the Gleaner’s editorials have crusaded against the PNP for not supporting its extension. The editorial writer has not been deterred by the erudite and comprehensive article of Sunday August 01, 2010 entitled “PNP acted responsibly” by the Hon. David Coore, one of the two surviving framers of our Constitution and a learned Queen’s Counsel.  Mr. Coore sets out therein why there was no legal basis to continue the State of Emergency (SOE).

Thursday’s editorial once again takes a swipe at the Party because on “anecdotal evidence” crime data is expected to be higher for August than July.

If we examine the empirical data we see a different picture as illustrated in the tables below.  The JCF publishes their data in weekly intervals.

Crime has fallen since the end of the State of Emergency

The Tables clearly show that the average daily murder rate has fallen significantly, both in the three affected parishes and nationally, since the end of the SOE.  For the 35-day interval between July 19 and August 22, the murder rate has averaged 2.91 per day compared with 3.75 murders per day during the SOE. This comparison demonstrates that the murder rate has been lower across the country since the end of the State of Emergency and rubbishes the notion that the SOE is a necessary crime fighting tool. This is not “anecdotal evidence”, this is hard fact.

Sincerely,

Peter Bunting MP