Of the more than 1,000 gunshot reports responded to by police in 2020, 44 percent of them were detected by ShotSpotter, Minister of National Security Marvin Dames said yesterday.
“Our investment is reaping dividends by aiding in the quick response of officers to reported gunshot incidents,” he said during debate of the mid-year budget.
“In 2020, the police responded to 1,052 gunshot reports.
“Forty-four percent, or 463 gunshots, were confirmed by ShotSpotter detections, which in turn resulted in 13 arrests where police were dispatched to investigate gunshot detections.
“This is a significant percentage given the fact that ShotSpotter sensors have not been installed to cover all areas of New Providence.”
Dames said data shows that there were 737 alerts in the area between Nassau Street and Village Road, compared to 180 alerts in the Fox Hill community and surrounding areas.
“The western area, as highlighted in red, shows the highest number of gunshots compared to the eastern area, as highlighted in blue,” he said.
“The difference between the two areas suggested that about 120 percent more shots were fired in the western area compared to the eastern area.”
Dames said investment in CCTV has also paid off, as he noted that more cameras will be installed.
“The expansion of CCTV by 507 cameras is well on the way and over 200 high-quality cameras have been installed throughout New Providence to augment existing numbers,” he said.
“The system went live in July 2020, with the use of smart technological capabilities including license plate and facial recognition, and pan tilt zoom to capture evidential information in real-time. Since the establishment of CCTV, there were 435 requests for CCTV footage to aid in police investigations.
“Overall, CCTV footage aided 259 investigations, representing a 60 percent fulfillment rate.”
According to statistics released by Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle in January, overall crime decreased by 16 percent in 2020.
Rolle said crimes against the person decreased by 21 percent, with 896 incidents in 2019, compared to 712 in 2020.
Murders decreased by 23 percent.
Dames said that the decreases are a direct result of good policy and the efforts of law enforcement agencies, in spite of those who say the curfew, implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19, is the reason for lower crime figures.
“There are those on the opposite side who continue to speculate and provide their own unsubstantiated commentary with no empirical basis as to why crime under our administration continues to trend downward,” he said.
“But the good thing, Mr. Speaker, is this – it continues to trend downward.
“…We cannot deny the fact that the downward trend is due to good government policies combined with effective strategies executed by the hardworking men and women of law enforcement.”
However, Dames noted that he is concerned about the increase in rapes in 2020.
“It is not lost on us, Mr. Speaker, that rapes increased by eight between 2019 and 2020, by 16 percent,” he said.
“…So, we expect, Mr. Speaker, that during this year, the Royal Bahamas Police Force would be placing a particular emphasis on that category of crime that is of great concern and should be to all of us.”
He said a pilot program of the sexual offenders registry is expected to launch this quarter.
“This registry will impose reporting obligations on sex offenders thereby providing the police with up-to-date information to reduce re-offending by providing notifications of residence, convictions, location, photo ID, and aliases to the public,” he said.
“A pilot program of the registry will be launched before the end of this fiscal period.”
The post Dames says police seeing success from ShotSpotter system appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/dames-says-police-seeing-success-from-shotspotter-system/
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