We only vacation in Jamaica. I had stopped visiting for a few years because I thought the hagglers on the beach and elsewhere were just getting too aggressive and it made me uncomfortable. Last year when we returned (during a SOE) it felt safer. The show of force, and the police walking the beach seemed to me to make a difference. We will be back in a few months and I feel better now about visiting than I have in the past.
This is just my opinion as a tourist. I don't really see much of the in's and out's of daily living. We usually stay 3 days on the cliffs, and three days on 7 mile.