Armed thieves forced their way into a woman's home in Millennium Gardens and robbed her of five cell phones, a desktop computer and a large amount of cash around 9 a.m. on Monday, police reported. The men were reportedly in a blue Honda CRV, which sped off after the robbery.
The incident was one of four armed robberies in New Providence in 24 hours. In two of those incidents, vehicles were stolen. The first incident took place around 4:30 a.m. on Monday. Police said a man was on Cowpen Road when two gunmen robbed him of a silver Honda before speeding off. Around 10:30 a.m., two armed men robbed a woman of a deposit bag containing a large amount of cash as she was leaving her home on West Bay Street, police said. The men fled in a gold Honda jeep.
Around 1 a.m. yesterday, a man was on Rupert Dean Lane when two gunmen robbed him of a gold Nissan Primera, according to police. Armed robberies have been prevalent in crime reports in recent months. Between August 5 and August 6, police said eight armed robberies occurred on New Providence. In seven of those incidents, vehicles were stolen.
In one case, police said gunmen in a white jeep forced a woman driving on Cowpen Road off the road around 3 a.m. before robbing her of her cell phone and handbag. Crime and the fear of crime has been a central theme in the national discourse. But in the absence of crime statistics for this quarter it is unclear how much violent crime has permeated The Bahamas. Murders are up 23 percent over last year. There have been 96 murders recorded in the country for 2015 compared to the 78 murders around this time last year.
Last week, Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Bradley Robert admitted last Friday that Minister of National Security Dr. Bernard Nottage ought to take a more active role in the crime fight. In response, Free National Movement (FNM) Chairman Michael Pintard called on Prime Minister Perry Christie to intervene amid Nottage's silence on crime. He said Christie should make a national address outlining the government's plan to deal with what he called a crime crisis. The budget debate in the House of Assembly ended abruptly in June without Nottage speaking.
Defending the decision to cut the debate before Nottage addressed the state of crime, Christie told reporters in June that the government would reveal its crime plan through its new media platform. The Stronger Bahamas website shows that the government's crime plan includes the implementation of Urban Renewal 2.0, Shock Treatment, Project Safe Bahamas and crime watch. However, these programs are not new.
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