Officials are experiencing "significant gains" in the fight against crime this year due to increased resources, including a beefed up vehicle fleet for the police force, Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe reported yesterday.

Speaking at a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister, Munroe said that year to date, crime in the Central, Northwestern and Southern divisions, which make up Bain and Grants Town, has decreased by 15 percent, 44 percent and seven percent respectively.

Munroe also released information that showed: Year to date, crime in the South Central Division, which encompasses the Grove, has decreased by 16 percent.

Crime in the Northeastern Division, which includes Kemp Road, has decreased by 38 percent.

Crime in the Fox Hill Division has decreased by 42 percent.

Crime in the largest policing division in New Providence, which represents Carmichael, has decreased by 26 percent.

Munroe reported that as of July 5, 2023, police collected the final outstanding 30 Nissan Frontier diesel trucks from the vendor to be outfitted for police patrols.

The force is now in possession of all 100 Nissan trucks ordered as the final fulfillment to upgrade its fleet of vehicles.

The minister reported that the new police vehicles along with additional manpower have heightened police presence throughout New Providence in an effort to drive the overall 7 Point Crime Prevention strategy articulated in the commissioner's 2023 Policing Plan.

He reported that overall year to date, crime is down by 24 percent, "which is the lowest it has been in the past five years".

Quality of life offenses or crimes against the person are down by 28 percent, according to the minister.

Crime against the property is down by 23 percent, "which is the lowest it has been in the past five years".

"Accordingly, the deployment of the new fleet and manpower has enabled the force to execute its crime fighting strategies in a meaningful and productive way," the minister advised.

"The force is able to effectively conduct thousands of stop and search operations throughout New Providence each week and intercept crime offenders.

"The ability of the force to conduct these stop and search operations is the driving force of its crime prevention strategy as it deters would be criminals from committing an offense due to the sheer police presence that is now seen throughout New Providence."

According to the minister, on average, the force is able to arrest 279 suspects each week and charge at least 146 people and place them before the court.

"The new vehicles have also allowed the force to improve and build its community efforts with residents and businesses," the minister said.

"Thousands of field checks, school visits and business visits are conducted each week. Flashing lights are seen on a daily basis throughout various communities as the force has extended its crime prevention reach.

"The force has improved its response time significantly in cases involving firearms. The proliferation of illegal firearms is a major concern in The Bahamas as firearms are used in the commission of at least 90 percent of all serious matters.

"Based on the current availability of vehicles in hotspot crime areas that are tracked using GIS, we are able to arrive at the scene of a crime much quicker than we were able to in the past.

"In instances of shooting incidents, the response time has improved significantly from double digits to a single digit. These vehicles have undoubtedly improved crime dispatch efficiency."

According to Munroe, the force was able to confiscate 187 firearms and over 5,586 rounds of ammunition.

"Each of these discoveries represents a life that was saved," the minister said.

The post Munroe: Police patrols have driven crime down appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

The post Munroe: Police patrols have driven crime down appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

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