Most of the people who were killed in 2012 were men between the ages of 18 and 35, according to recently released figures for 2012.

According to the murder demographics, which were prepared by the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s (RBPF) Crime Analysis Section, 101 men were killed in 2012, eclipsing the 10 women who were murdered.

Firearms were used in 79 per cent of the cases; knives were used in 10 per cent; blunt objects were used in 5 per cent, a cutlass was used in 1 per cent, other objects were used in 1 per cent and unknown objects accounted for 5 per cent of the cases.

Four people 17-years-old and under were murdered in 2012. Thirty-eight people in the 18-25 category were murdered; 33 in the 26-35 category were murdered; 21 in the 34-45 category were murdered; 10 in the 46-55 category were murdered, 4 in the 56-65 category were murdered and one in the 66 and over category was killed.

Eighty-two murders were solved, compared to 29 which remain unsolved.

Police reported a 74 per cent murder detection rate.

Murders decreased 13 per cent last year compared to the same time period for 2011.

There were 111 murders in 2012 – 93 of which were in New Providence.

Commissioner Greenslade noted that unemployed, adult men are the ones who are doing most of the killing.

“Thankfully, due to the support of the public and the hard work of police officers, we were able during mid 2012 to arrest several of those persons and thankfully, we’ve been able to keep them incarcerated,” he said.

“The arrest of these prolific serious offenders who are well-known to us and who are still incarcerated has led to the decrease in murders and other serious crime. [Also] the fact that many of them have died [has contributed to the decrease].