The latest crime statistics presented by Minister of National Security Marvin Dames revealed that the country’s murder count for the past five years has remained steady and overall crime is down by 19 per cent, but murders are up by 41 per cent.
Mr. Dames revealed the crime statistics yesterday during his contribution to the debate in the House of Assembly.

He said while there are numerous solutions, the issue of crime especially murder will not be eradicated overnight.

Mr. Dames explained that the issues the country faces today with regards to crime did not mysteriously disappear when the Minnis administration took office and are a manifestation of years of abdication of responsibility.

“The total crime figures to date compared to the same period last year, are down by 19 percent and that would be the overall crime figures for this year,” Dames said.

During his contribution, Mr. Dames sought to bring clarity via statistics on where exactly the country stands when it comes to murders.

He noted that murder for the past five years has exceeded 100 and has shown no signs of slowing down.

“Although there were decreases in certain areas, the murder count continues to increase and the level of violent crimes remain at levels far too high for such a small nation as ours,” he said.

“The fear of crime remains an all-time high and has the potential to stifle productivity and impact the quality of life of far too many residents and Bahamians.”

The statistics revealed showed that murders are up by 41 percent, with 103 incidents. Attempted murder decreased by 20 per cent with 12 incidents compared to this same time period last year.

Not only did the study focus on the numbers of murders, but the motives as well.

The study read by Mr. Dames found that out of the 719 murders during that six-year study period, conflict and retaliation killings were made of the majority of motives.

More specifically he said those murders involved ongoing feuds between gang members.

“Robbery related murders made up 14 per cent of the incidents. A total of 10 per cent stemmed from domestic violence, nine per cent were drug related. Thus far, for 2017 we found similar trends,” he said.

“These motives suggest that we must focus more of our attention to young people who gravitate towards gang violence in the home and drugs.”

Finally, the study also revealed the make-up of both murder suspects and victims.

“A total of 89 per cent of murder victims were male and 64 per cent of them were between the ages of 18-35. Sixty per cent had prior criminal records, 31 per cent were involved in gangs and 18 per cent were on bail at the time of their death,” he said.

“Ninety-seven per cent of murder suspects were male, 82 per cent were between the ages of 18-35 and the study showed a similar profile for those charged with murder.”

Ninety-seven per cent of the suspects charged, he said, were male and 82 per cent were ages 18-35.

He added that 58 per cent held prior criminal records, 42 per cent were involved in gangs and 39 per cent were on bail at the time of their death.

He also noted that earlier studies found that 64 per cent of murder victims and 71 per cent of murder suspects were unemployed.

“A recent study done by The University of The Bahamas at the Department of Corrections showed 54 per cent of inmates dropped out of school and 48 per cent were expelled,” Mr. Dames said.

“Considering the evidence, if the government will have any success, its programs must be designed to aggressively address root causes and risk factors.”

They include education attainment, poverty, poor parenting and mental disorders which the minister stated have a profound impact on the socialization of the country’s youth.

Additional statistics revealed in the study showed that rape is down 15 per cent, but attempted rape increased by 15 per cent and unlawful sexual intercourse decreased by 25 per cent with 91 incidents.

Armed robbery he said decreased by 35 per cent with 380 incidents and attempted robbery increased by 17 per cent with 14 incidents.