Though he previously questioned several of the crime fighting measures outlined by the former administration, Minister of National Security Marvin Dames announced many of those same strategies on Saturday, as he responded to concerns about the country's crime problem on the heels of three murders.
Dames said the government plans to introduce a far more focused and aggressive crime fighting strategy.
Among other things, he said the police will increase vehicle and foot patrols in crime hot spots, increase focus on firearms traffickers, increase the monitoring of CCTV and increase intelligence and operational efforts to disrupt gang activities.
Back in February, before Dames entered frontline politics, he criticized the announcement of pretty much the same measures by former Minister of National Security Dr. Bernard Nottage in an interview with The Nassau Guardian.
Addressing Parliament on February 15, Nottage announced that the Christie administration would, among other measures, increase foot patrols in crime hot spots, establish a gun interdiction taskforce, implement 24-hour monitoring of CCTV and enforce the anti-gang law that was passed in 2014.
Reacting to Nottage's announcement in February, Dames suggested that the crime fighting strategies were not new and suggested that they should have already been in place.
"You say you are going to do these things; how are you going to do them? And when are you going to do them?" Dames asked.
"What are the timelines on them? And does it mean that the current plan, that is supposed to be the commissioner's crime plan, has failed you?
"And so are you saying, if it has, then who is accountable?
"These are the questions that must be asked."
However, in his plans announced on Saturday, Dames did not provide a timeline or a "how to" of several of the measures put forth.
When asked on Saturday when these plans were to be implemented, Dames simply said "immediately".
In February, Dames also questioned Nottage's plans for the CCTV system.
"He did indicate in his report that they will make certain now that these CCTVs are being monitored 24/7," Dames said.
"So we haven't been monitoring them 24/7, after spending maybe millions in infrastructure and equipment to install.
"Are we saying today, years after they have been implemented, are we saying that we haven't been monitoring them on a 24/7 basis?
"We can purchase all of the equipment in the world, but if we are not utilizing the equipment properly, we will not get the optimum results."
Three months into his position as national security minister, Dames said, "I am not totally satisfied that we are getting the most out of the CCTV system.
"There is a question about technology.
"There is a question about whether it is working the way it ought to.
"They have had some results, but there is still a lot of work we have to do in terms of getting that system to a point whereby it can serve us the way we expect it to."
Other crime fighting efforts Dames announced include the National Crime Prevention and Neighborhoods Watch Council, the decentralization of the Central Detective Unit and the enhancement of senior command at divisional levels on a 24-hour basis.
Dames has repeatedly said that though the level of crime in the country remains a concern, it is not a problem that can be solved overnight.
Murders in The Bahamas have increased by 39 percent between January 1, 2017 and August 20, 2017, compared to the same period last year.
There have been 89 murders for the year.
As of August 20, 2016, there were 64 murders.

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