Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade said yesterday statistics on "minor" crimes such as aggravated assault and causing harm are "staggering".

Greenslade acknowledged that all crimes that are committed in The Bahamas are not included in the crime statistics that are provided from time to time.

That means that crimes such as shootings, stabbings, vagrancy and littering and others are not included in the statistics.

However, Greenslade said while those numbers are excluded, police do tabulate those crimes on a daily basis.

"I'll tell you, those numbers are very high and in many of those cases people are arrested," he said.

"And when they are arrested, in many cases witnesses withdraw. So you'll have your domestic disputes, loud noise reports, vagrants, littering, illegal dumping, assaults, causing harm, causing [grievous] harm -- all of those things we categorize.

"You would be amazed at the amount of calls we get for assistance on a daily, weekly and yearly basis. Those numbers are staggering.

The police force is very, very busy. We don't just deal with major crimes."

Asked to explained why those crimes are not included, Greenslade said the police only present what they consider to be major crimes in the statists provided to the media.

"For well over 30 years, whenever statistics are produced there are major and minor crimes. These (the ones provided) would be considered major crimes," he said.

"So we take the major crimes and categorize with crimes against person and property." According to figures provided by Greenslade yesterday, crime overall is down five percent compared to last year.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian