Police officials are forecasting an overall decrease in reported crimes this year, despite what has been branded as an unprecedented wave of crime on the global scene.
Chief Superintendent Marvin Dames made the disclosure Monday while appearing as a guest on Love 97ﾴs “Issues of the Day” talk show.
Mr. Dames also said that the police were doing a good job in solving crime.
“Weﾴre around the 80 percent range for homicides and weﾴre hoping that we can take it up even further before the year is out,” Mr. Dames told the showﾴs host, Wendall Jones.
“So we are doing a fine job and I suspect that the figures will bear that out at the end of the year if we continue with our programmes.”
To date, there have been 35 murders recorded in the country, nine fewer than what were reported during the same period in 2003 and 2002.
According to Mr. Dames, police have discovered that based on a 12-year study ﾖ 1991 to 2003 ﾖ 80 percent of the victims knew their attackers. Police officials indicate that of this yearﾴs homicides, 70 percent of the victims were familiar with those who committed the brutal slayings.
He reported that last year there were 735 armed robberies. So far for this year, 570 have been reported. Last year, there were 111 reported cases of sexual offenses, he said. Between January and November, 80 such cases have been reported.
Mr. Dames said present projections put the number of armed robberies and sexual offenses lower than what was reported in 2003.
But despite the inroads, he said there is still a level of hysteria in the country regarding crime, particularly following a spate of murders last month during a two-week period.
Mr. Dames attributed the high fear of crime to widespread media reporting and the fact that more Bahamians appear to be attentive and concerned about their respective communities.
But according to Mr. Dames, while police officials would admit that additional manpower could help them put a deeper dent in crime, it takes more than the police to defeat crime.
“The effective management of crime involves the partnership between the police and the community and the role the community plays in many instances is more significant than the role the police play because there are many times when we are looking for people and they are right out there in the communities,” he said.
“People are seeing them every day, but no one is picking up the phone and calling the police.”
Mr. Dames also pointed out that there are no quick fixes to crime.
Some Bahamians have long suggested parliament increase penalties for crime-related incidents, but according to Mr. Dames, while there is a need to review the countryﾴs existing legislation from time to time, penalties alone would not address the problem.
“In some instances, penalties are excellentﾅBut we are faced with a greater problem here,” he said. “Thereﾴs our lifestyle and our inability to reason, but to rush straight to shooting and stabbing. Thatﾴs how we settle conflicts now.”
Macushla Pinder, The Bahama Journal
