While crimes across The Bahamas decreased by eight percent in the first five months of the year, homicides increased by 52 percent compared to the same period last year and armed robberies increased by 42 percent, National Security Minister Marvin Dames said today.
The minister did not provide a breakdown of the numbers, however, he said the government remains concerned about these two categories of crime.
“This uptick appears to be a global trend,” he said as he contributed to debate on the 2021/2022 budget in the House of Assembly.
Despite those increases, Dames said crime has decreased considerably since the Minnis administration took office. However, he did not provide crime figures for corresponding periods of time.
He said 18,332 incidents of major crime were reported to police between 2017 to 2020, compared to the 40,108 incidents reported between 2012 and 2016.
While the minister insisted this accounts for a 54 percent increase, he compared crime statistics recorded over a three-year period against crime statistics recorded over a four-year period.
Dames said 430 murders were recorded between 2017 and 2020, while 609 murders were recorded during the preceding four years.
As it relates to armed robberies, 1,893 incidents were reported between 2017 and 2020, while 4,798 were reported between 2012 and 2016.
“Armed robberies would have been reduced by some 61 percent,” Dames said.
The minister hailed the Minnis administration for reducing crime.
The post Dames: Murders up for first five months of 2021 appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/dames-murders-up-for-first-five-months-of-2021/
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