National Security State Minister Keith Bell Thursday said newly released crime statistics indicating a downward trend in the overall number of crimes this year compared to last year’s figures is proof that the government’s crime fighting initiatives are working.
This despite questions over the completeness of the released data. The crime statistics released in the House of Assembly on Wednesday did not include attempted murder, attempted robbery or stealing from vehicles.
Mr. Bell, who has been a longtime proponent of the Urban Renewal Programme, told the Journal in a private interview on Thursday that in a short time, the Christie government has made some major inroads in the fight against crime.
“No other strategy or government can boast of having achieved such good ratings in such a short period of time. But the reality is, I do not wish for us to say that we are having success – we need to continue to do what we are doing and seek to do even better.”
In the House on Wednesday, National Security Minister Dr. Bernard Nottage presented a brief summary of the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s (RBPF) latest figures, which he said showed an overall nine percent decrease in the number of crimes compared to the same period last year.
Dr. Nottage revealed that there has been a reduction in murders, rapes, attempted rapes, unlawful sexual intercourse and the number robbery.
“Murders are down by 14 percent; rapes are down by 11 percent; attempted rapes are down by 65 percent; unlawful sexual intercourse cases are down by 22 percent and robberies are down by two percent,” the minister said.
Regarding crimes against property, Dr. Nottage noted that those statistics were also trending downward. Burglary, he said, is down by 12 percent; housebreaking down by 15 percent; shop breaking down by 10 percent; stealing is down by 14 percent and stolen vehicles are down by three percent.
Since the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) won the general election on May 7, Dr. Nottage said that there has been a 24 percent reduction in murders; rapes, he said, are down by six percent.
The national security minister said that attempted rapes have dropped by 56 percent; unlawful sexual intercourse numbers are down by 43 percent; robbery is down by 20 percent; attempted robbery is down by 10 percent; burglary has fallen by 18 percent; house breaking is down by 17 percent; stealing has dropped by 22 percent; stealing from vehicles is down by 14 percent and the number of stolen vehicles has fallen by three percent.
While overall Dr Nottage said the country is trending in the right direction, he did note that there has been an increase in the number of armed robberies this year compared to last year and there has also been a spike in shop breakings this year since last year.
However, State Minister Bell said that the statistics are promising and continued efforts on the part of the government, the RBPF and the community will contribute to a further decline in the number of crimes.
“If you look at January 1 to January 31, 2012 and January 1 to January 31, 2011 and did that with each consecutive month you will discover that from the period from May onward there has been a closing of the gap,” Mr. Bell said.
“We have shown that we have the capacity and the confidence to take our streets back and we are doing this with the help of the Bahamian people. Bahamians are generally fed up with the levels of crime and no longer tolerant.”
