The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

POLICE yesterday called for business people and store owners throughout the Bahamas to “be alert of their surroundings” to avoid being victims of armed robbery ahead of the Christmas holidays.

The warning from Assistant Commissioner of Police Stephen Dean came at the start of the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s annual Christmas Holiday Crime Prevention Initiative at the Mall at Marathon.

Police combed the mall, handing out crime prevention fliers and offering personal advice to kiosk operators, those working in stores, and passers-by.

Once the tour of the mall was completed, police led the media in a special convoy to the Southwest Plaza on Carmichael Road to continue the initiative, which finally ended on Bay Street.

ACP Dean yesterday said yesterday’s exercise was to “ensure that business persons get the necessary education in how to prevent themselves from being victims of crime.”

“We realise this is a critical time in this country,” he said.

“Not only in business places, people will be looking to rob people this time of year. So we have to particularly target those armed robbers. When we look and analyse most of our armed robberies, over half of them could have been prevented had persons taken the necessary safety precautions, be alert of their surroundings, don’t do business as usual. Don’t take anyone for granted. We live in a real world. We have to remove that opportunity for crime. Once the opportunity is removed, we believe that we’ll have more peaceful Christmas seasons. We want people to enjoy themselves.”

Armed robberies, although overshadowed due to the reports of more high profile crimes, such as homicides, are a threat to society nonetheless.

In most cases, victims of armed robberies are lucky enough to emerge from the encounters unscathed.

However, in what appears to be a growing trend, armed robbers are shooting the victims they rob, which can lead to deadly consequences.

On Saturday, a man had just closed his business located on Soldier Road and was sitting in a rented CRV vehicle with a male friend when two men, armed with handguns approached them and demanded cash.

The gunmen shot one of the men twice in his body and robbed his friend of a small amount of cash before speeding off in the victim’s vehicle which contained an undetermined amount of cash. The injured man was taken to hospital where he is listed in stable condition.

Last month, a man was in front of his West Bay Street home when two men armed with firearms robbed him of cash and his blue 2013 Kia Rio vehicle before speeding off.

ACP Dean yesterday said the biggest problem police face with incidents of armed robbery, especially during the Christmas season, is business persons at the end of the workday opting to take home large amounts of cash.

“Throughout the day deposit that money,” he advised. “We’re asking, particularly the large companies, to hire security firms to transport your money. In some cases we’re saying to business places, get in contact with your police divisional commander … you can call that police divisional commander who will escort you to get your money to the bank.

“We don’t want you to carry large sums of money home. That’s the problem we continue to be faced with. Business persons carrying money home, and someone knows they carry that large sum of money home, and they break into their homes, rob them hold them up (at night). We want to prevent things like that from happening.”

Keisha Gibson, an employee of High Technology Communications, said as a woman she was grateful for the tips.

“Sometimes we know what we’re supposed to do, but to have the flier that you can read, it just puts an extra precaution in your mind,” she said.

“I appreciate it,” added a female worker at the store Gift’s Remembered. “It’s good what they’re doing because not many police are here on a consistent basis. It was couple times that I witnessed somebody’s bags getting snatched in this area, so hopefully that could be prevented.”

According to ACP Dean, the RBPF has also launched the initiative in Grand Bahama and some of the Family Islands.

He said police officers in New Providence have “stopped all the office work” to ensure that all hands are on deck to combat the probable surge of armed robberies throughout the remainder of the year.