The Registrar General's Department (RGD) has donated five new computers and a printer to the Jamaica Constabulary Force's (JCF) Statistical Unit, which will boost the unit's ability to collate vital data on sudden and violent deaths.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony held recently at the Office of the Commissioner of Police on Old Hope Road, Acting Manager of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics at the RGD, Monique Lynquee, said that the decision to donate the computers to the JCF came out of a recent vital statistics meeting, in which the JCF expressed the need for computers to speed up the compilation of relevant data.

Relevant compilation

"The police play a very important role in gathering the information for vital statistics and now that they have these computers to assist them, they will be able to put the data together in a faster time frame so that they can use it to do the relevant compilation of sudden and violent deaths," Ms. Lynquee informed.

Thanking the RGD for the donation, Assistant Commissioner in Charge of Operations, Owen Ell-ington, explained that the acquisition of the equipment will enhance the collaborative work between the police and the RGD on vital statistics.

"The donation is in recognition of a shortfall in the capacity that we (JCF) have and also an indication that the RGD appreciates the importance of our contribution to its mission of providing the public with accurate, up-to-date statistics," the assistant commissioner added.

Vital events

The RGD is responsible for capturing all vital events, which refer to births, deaths, marriages and stillbirths occurring in Jamaica and in Jamaican waters, for the purposes of providing timely statistics and analysis to support planning by the Government.