Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis met with police and the attorney general to "reinforce the government's zero tolerance approach to crime" following the "shocking" murder of an eight-month-old baby on Monday, Press Secretary Anthony "Ace" Newbold said yesterday.
"Everybody's really shocked by what happened two nights ago and we understand that there is no one solution to crime," said Newbold at a press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister.
"It's a multifaceted problem, and so there must be a multifaceted approach to getting it under control."
The baby, identified as Shelton Delano Tinker, was killed after a gunman forced his way into his family's Rupert Dean Lane home around 3 a.m. and opened fire.
Police initially reported the baby was 18 months, but confirmed yesterday he was eight-month-old.
The baby's parents were also shot. They remained in hospital, police said.
Newbold said the government is committed to providing the necessary resources to combat crime.
He said the PM's meeting with the police and the attorney general happened on Monday.
Newbold said, "...A Cabinet sub-committee has been formed to take a holistic view of the crime situation and how the church and schools and other social partners can play a larger role in getting crime under control."
Asked to respond to criticisms that the government does not have a plan to tackle crime, Newbold said no one plan can address the issue.
He said all stakeholders must come together.
"Plans won't stop crime, certainly [not] killings," he said.
"The minister of national security just spoke of plans. The police should also present a crime plan. As I also said, the prime minister has called for the formation of a ministerial subcommittee as well, because crime is vexing and one plan, or one element of a plan, is not going to solve it. We've seen that with former administrations, certainly with the former administration, and so it's a work in progress always."
On August 19, National Security Minister Marvin 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 the focus on firearms traffickers, increase the monitoring of CCTV and increase intelligence and operational efforts to disrupt gang activities.
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.
The baby's death brought the country's murder count up to 92 for the year.

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