Keith Bell, State Minister for National Security, said that contrary to earlier reports attempted murder will still be classified as a major crime.
Last week, Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade told the media that moving forward crime statistics will be reported and released in a different format.
Mr Bell said the police are not attempting to hide crime statistics but rather to fall in line with the way crime is reported in other jurisdictions.
“Now when we gather information it is broken down in broad categories like crime against the person, murder, armed robbery, rape and incest. We will not just take these categories, including crimes against property, housebreaking and stolen vehicles, and break them down into major and minor depending on what is involved and the specifics of the case. We have to further break down the statistics. But all of the information will be released to the media. We aren’t hiding anything. We are just grouping it differently, breaking them down into sub categories so you will be able to see everything better.”
Opposition Leader Dr Hubert Minnis said the new crime statistics would not be a true reflection of the crime problem in the country.
