According to survey data from the Planning Institute of Jamaica, the suicide rate increased by 26% in 2022.

More Jamaicans are choosing suicide to escape their harsh realities. The latest data shows a 26 percent increase in the number of persons who took their lives in 2022 compared with 2021. 

And even though the nation’s suicide rate is just over two per 100,000 of the population and falls below the global average of 9.2% per 100,000, it is still alarming. 

The latest figures were published in the Economic and Social Survey Jamaica released recently by the Planning Institute of Jamaica. 

The report said there were 64 reported instances of suicides recorded in 2022, compared to 51 in 2021–the masculine gender 0accounted for 90.2% of the victims.

The data shows hanging is the method used 75% of the time.

In 2022, four suicide victims were under 18 and seven over 65.

Persons contemplating suicide may call the Ministry of Health’s suicide helpline at 888 NEW LIFE (639-5433).

Three years after allegedly shot at cops, police held ‘Faggie’ in a traffic stop.

Kerron ‘Faggie’ Copeland, age 27, a Barton Community, St Catherine resident, has been on the run–eluding the police for three years after opening fire at the cops. But every rope has an end. And ‘Faggie’ came to the end of his rope when law enforcement officers arrested him in a routine traffic stop during an operation in Old Harbor last month.

The suspect is facing charges of shooting with intent, illegal possession of a firearm, and illegal possession of ammunition stemming from several incidents in his community.

According to reporting, on June 17, 2020, at about 9:30 am, law enforcement officers visited premises in the Barton community, and ‘Faggie’ allegedly greeted them with gunfire before he escaped in the community.

But as fate would have it, on July 29, 2023, at about 10:40 pm, the police signaled a car to stop during an operation along the Old Harbor Main Road. The driver complied, and Copeland alighted from the vehicle.

While searching his person, the police removed a Glock 19 firearm with a magazine containing three cartridges from his waistband. The police arrested him and subsequently charged him on August 7, 2023, following the execution of an arrest warrant.

His court appearance date is pending.