first, you would do well to leave the mindframe of desiring hard numbers, facts, figures, and timeframes behind you when you live in jamaica ;-) but as one who has traveled the island away from tourist places and in the company of a jamaican, i can pass on from local word and personal experience that altho is true murder is highest in jamaica, it is confined mostly to kingston, some parts mobay, and the rest of the likkle rock is peaceful indeed. the violent crime is directed inward, gang/drug-related, so not to affect much the vast majority of jamaicans not involved in drugs, and definately not involving non-jamaicans.  there are so many beautiful places and climates and people in jamaica that for me, i feel why go to live in kingston when my goal is to get ~away~ from the rat-race? look at it like this- where i live now (and you too), you stay away from the 'bad' areas and mind your own business to stay safe from the crime, and same in jamaica. when in mobay, don't do stupid ting like one man visiting, took a bicycle ride thru not-good areas of mobay on purpose in the night just to see how bad it really was... nothing happen, but still stoopit.
