In keeping with a commitment made last year the Commissioner of Police James Smith today released some limited crime data for the second quarter of the current year to RTC News, covering the period 1st July up to and including 30th September 2017. In releasing the date the CoP stated:
“My Force is committed to continuing our efforts to combat crime in the country and bring offenders to justice. We have not been able to release our second quarter figures for this year as quickly as we would have wished, following on from the disruption caused by hurricane Irma and it is also necessary to note that whilst we have great confidence in most of the data, some very limited crime reported in September may not be 100% up to date. Any anomaly will be rectified when we are fully operational again.
I am pleased to report that in the second quarter of this year (July, August, and September), we recorded a total of 477 crimes. When compared to the same period last year this means a reduction of some 215 crimes ( a 31% reduction). If we compare to the same period for 2015/16 then the reduction is some 311 less crimes ( a 40% reduction). This is a continuing downward trend over the last two years. For the first six months of 2015/16, we recorded 1597 crimes, for the same period in 2016/17 we recorded 1368 crimes and for this year over the same period we have recorded 937 crimes, a decrease of 660 offences over the first six month period two years ago. This is a significant achievement and means that in the first six months of this year overall crime is down 33% compared to the first six months of last year, and 42% down on the same period two years ago.
Clearly, we are delighted with this, but we are not complacent. We know things can change quickly and we continually assess our deployment profile to match the intelligence we receive or the change in crime patterns. In the next week or so I will release more detailed data and will also include some significant statistics on the arrests we have made and charges preferred against serious criminals.
However, at this point, I can report that persons have been arrested and charged with the most recent Murder of Mr. John PENN and in another case for conspiracy to commit robbery involving tourists at the Regent Palms and at The Royal West Indies this year. We are determined to bring serious criminals to book and prevent as many acts of criminality as we can. I am extremely grateful for the hard work done by all officers and staff particularly working in very challenging conditions, they deserve the credit for this success and I commend them for their efforts,” added the Commissioner.
