Voicing concern about the availability of illegal guns on the island, Assistant Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade told Rotarians recently that the matter continues to challenge police.
“During the first three weeks of January 2006, six high powered illegal handguns were recovered in Grand Bahama,” he said
“During 2005, far too many of our young men died as a result of injuries sustained from illegal guns in the hands of their friends and associates.”
Mr. Greenslade said 14 of the 18 murders committed in the northern Bahamas were committed in Grand Bahama and the majority of the victims were young adult Bahamian males.
As part of efforts to address the illegal firearms problem, Chief Superintendent Basil Rahming said a road search operation was carried out the first week of March.
Mr. Rahming said police want to ensure that the weapons are confiscated before they are used in the commission of crimes like armed robbery and murder.
Police say guns were used in 65 percent of murders committed in Grand Bahama in 2005.
Illegal guns, according to police, remain a challenge on the national level as well.
On March 6, police officers in New Providence started a multi-pronged initiative in an “aggressive” three-month crackdown on firearm-related crime.
For the first six weeks of 2006, police recovered 29 weapons from the streets of Nassau and Grand Bahama, Chief Superintendent Marvin Dames said.
“Criminal possession of firearms and the use of firearms in the commission of crimes continue to rise,” Mr. Dames said.
“Figures for 2005 show that 65 percent of reported homicides and 76 percent of reported armed robberies involved the use of a firearm. This is unacceptable. We shall spare no effort in our attempts to take firearms out of the hands of criminals.”
The nationwide initiative involves the uniform and plain-clothes branches of the force, along with the Criminal Detective and Drug Enforcement units.
By: Daphne McIntosh, The Bahama Journal
