Chief Superintendent Marvin Dames said Monday that targeting these types of crimes will be a key focus of his department in 2004.
He said property crimes increased by 6 percent.
“I believe [because of] the overall increase in crime, our concern and our efforts must be directed in 2003 to crimes against property,” Mr. Dames said. “That is the particular category where we are still experiencing some increases.”
He was one of the key officers reporting to the media on matters regarding crime last year and the way forward for the Police Force.
Mr. Dames told reporters that while there was an increase in property crimes, crimes against persons decreased by 30 percent in 2003.
According to figures released, reported burglaries increased from 229 in 2002 to 289 in 2003 or 21 percent.
Reported house breaking increased by 14 percent from 2,150 in 2002 to 2,490 in 2003.
There were 3,769 reported cases of stealing, an eight percent increase over 2002, while stealing from vehicles saw a 10 percent increase from 1,551 in 2002 to 1,723 in 2003.
Mr. Dames noted that 46 percent of armed robberies occurred between the hours of 4 pm and 12 am.
“We must continue to press between those hours and if we do that, we should see a notable reduction during 2004,” he said.
Mr. Dames noted that although police saw a modest decrease in reported armed robberies in 2003, they saw some impressive declines in these types of crimes in several areas that were a great source of concern during 2002.
One of the areas is the North Eastern Division, which consists of Holy Cross, Marathon, St. Thomas Moore and portions of the Fox Hill and Englerston constituencies, he said.
“During 2002, this division reported 148 cases of armed robberies,” Mr. Dames said. “This figure declined by 25 percent during the year 2003. Although the Southern
Division remains the primary area of concern as it relates to armed robberies during 2003, the Southern Division also saw a modest decline in armed robberies. The south is a little more difficult because of the geography and layout, but hopefully we can impact on that in 2004.”
In crimes against the person, the national murder rate declined by 4 percent in 2003 from 52 murders in 2002 to 50 in 2003, with New Providence seeing a decrease from 42 murders in 2002 to 32 in 2003.
Mr. Dames viewed this as an “encouraging statistic.”
Grand Bahama’s murder rate nearly doubled in 2003 with 15 murders, up from 8 in 2002.
Police believe accused serial killer Cordell Farrington, was responsible for six of those murders, including the killings of five school-aged boys.
“Cordell Farrington was responsible for 10 percent of all murders reported in 2003 and 33 percent of all murders committed on the island of Grand Bahama,” Mr. Dames said. “Had it not been for this individual, we could have very well recorded our best murder rate in years.”
Commenting on the matter, Commissioner of Police, Paul Farquharson said the police were challenged to their limits with the circumstances surrounding the five missing boys in Grand Bahama.
“I wish to commend all of those individuals that responded to the call to be our brothers’ keepers,” Mr. Farquharson said. “I also wish to take this opportunity to once again call on all parents to do all in your power to safeguard the well being of our children.”
He pointed out that some good has come out of a very unfortunate situation, including the expansion of an Urban Renewal Programme that is now in “full gear.”
Mr. Farquharson said the force will also continue to relentlessly pursue officers who become involved in matters of an unethical nature.
“As I have said before, no Police Force can effectively police its community where corruption is tolerated within its ranks,” Mr. Farquharson said.
There were 302 complaints against police officers in 2003, compared to 398 in 2002, according to Director of the Complaints and Corruption Branch Superintendent John Ferguson.
Mr. Ferguson said this decline in complaints from members of the public is due in part to the proactive approach the branch took in educating the public of its rights and instilling in officers that they are mandated to perform their duties within the parameter of the law.
Mr. Ferguson added that another factor that could be attributed to the decline is more effective supervision at the ground level.
“The analytical information available to us indicates that most of the complaints were against officers with [fewer] than 10 years’ service and it would appear that 92 percent of the officers are following or attempting to follow the Commissioner’s policy as it relates to unethical behavior,” he said.
Mr. Ferguson noted that the force has made good on its plans to offer courses for officers who have an excessive amount of complaints against them. He reported that 11 participants, including three from the Family Islands, completed the first development course at the Police Training College.
Some of the areas covered included justifiable force, arrest and detention and care of prisoners.
Regarding corrupt officers, there was a total of 20 matters in 2003 in comparison to 31 in 2002. According to Mr. Ferguson, 12 of the matters are under active investigation and eight have been completed.
He added that three officers were charged before the Magistrate Courts and one before the Police Tribunal. Two of the corruption matters emanated from another law enforcement agency.
Mr. Ferguson said, “No law enforcement agency can survive if corruption or allegations of corrupt activities are allowed to go unchecked or unchallenged. We remain committed to the task of helping to keep the Royal Bahamas Police Force beyond suspicion.”
By Hadassah Hall, The Bahama Journal
