Free National Movement (FNM) Chairman Darron Cash said yesterday the contradictory statements made by Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade and Minister of State for National Security Keith Bell on rapes in The Bahamas ultimately reflect poorly on the government and its leadership.
"That is a clear indication of a dysfunctional government that lacks leadership, and there is no one more responsible for this than the prime minister," Cash said.
He was referring to Bell's statement that police believe prolific offenders are responsible for a recent "spike" in rapes.
Bell warned residents, particularly women, to be vigilant.
However, Greenslade said on Wednesday that he was "disturbed and surprised" that alarm has been sounded over rapes in the country.
Greenslade said rapes have trended downward compared to last year.
He also said he does not know that "we have any issue which should cause wide public alarm".
Neither men provided statistics.
Cash said when key stakeholders do not appear to be on the same page it does not instill confidence in the Bahamian people that the Christie administration has a handle on crime.
"The minister of state for national security gives concerns about the level of rape in the country," he said.
"Within a short while the commissioner of police contradicts him directly. That is inappropriate.
"The prime minister is out to lunch on this issue because he is obviously not leading."
Cash noted that this is not the first time government and police officials have contradicted one another in the public domain on crime.
"The Bahamian people will remember some months ago when the prime minister said in a moment of honesty that obviously his crime solutions were not working and that they had to go back to the drawing board," he said.
"Within [days] of the prime minister saying that, both the commissioner of police and the minister of national security directly contradicted the prime minister, and said as far as they are concerned everything was going fine.
"Obviously the commissioner of police and the prime minister don't speak. Obviously, the prime minister does not speak to his minister of national security."
Following Christie's statement, Greenslade, who was careful not to respond directly to the prime minister, said crime overall with the exception of murder and attempted murder was down.
He credited his 2014 policing plan and the effectiveness of officers following that plan.
When Minister of National Security Dr. Bernard Nottage was asked whether the government needed to go back to the drawing board, he suggested it did not.
He said the government needed to expand and strengthen its crime strategies.
Cash insisted the government has not done enough to address crime.
"Two murders occurred in six hours [on Monday], and then we open the newspaper today (Thursday) and heard...that the commissioner of police contradicts the minister of state for national security on rape.
"This is where it gets to the heart of [the Christie administration's] ineffectiveness as a government."
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