The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

THERE were 118 reported cases of cyber crime in the country in 2015, nearly 25 per cent of which were comprised of child pornography matters and online threats combined, according to data contained in the latest police crime statistics.

According to the figures compiled by the High Tech Crime Unit (HTCU) of the Royal Bahamas Police Force and revealed by Commissioner Ellison Greenslade yesterday, child pornography accounted for nine per cent of all cyber crimes in 2015 while online threats accounted for 13 per cent.

Intentional libel, which is comprised of voyeurism and defamation of character, led all categories of cyber crime, accounting for 42 per cent of all reported incidents. That was followed by 17 per cent of “misuse of the computer,” according to the statistics.

The majority of victims of cyber crime were single Bahamian females between the ages of 12 and 25 who reside in New Providence, according to the statistics. The most common cyber crime suspect was a single Bahamian male between the age of 18 and 25.

September 2015 recorded the highest incidences of cyber crime in the history of the RBPF with 18 reported matters.

This accounted for 15.25 per cent of all reported incidents. February and April both recorded 15 matters and those accounted for 13 per cent of all cyber crime reported matters in 2015.

New Providence had the highest incidences of cyber crimes, accounting for 90 per cent of all reported incidents. An additional 10 cyber crime complaints were recorded on the Family Islands, accounting for eight per cent of all recorded matters.

The northern region of the Bahamas recorded seven cyber crime matters, which represented one per cent of all reported matters nationally.

Overall, the statistics showed an upward trend in the incidents of cyber crime, with an increase of 39 per cent when compared to the same period in 2014 with only 85 reported matters.

CCTV

Commissioner Greenslade also announced that 74 live incidents of crime were captured by the national closed circuit television (CCTV) monitoring system in 2015.

Of that 74, 12 were murder related, he said. Two shooting incidents were captured; one armed robbery; two assaults; one assault with a deadly weapon; three illegal shop entries; two robberies and five vehicle robberies.

Three traffic fatalities and two traffic accidents with injuries were also recorded; two traffic accidents where injuries were sustained; 31 traffic accidents with “damage only”; two hit and run accidents; two complaints against the police and three damaged CCTV camera pods were also captured.

According to Mr Greenslade, there are currently 243 viewable cameras being utilised to power the CCTV initiative. He said the government has agreed to the expansion of the CCTV project, the realisation of which he said could take place in “early 2016.”

“We’re looking to expand that exponentially, in hotspots, in other areas that we deem appropriate, because certainly it’s a force multiplier,” he said yesterday. “It gives us good evidence, certainly helps with the perception of safety, and so we think in the very short term, certainly we believe based on what I’ve discussed with the prime minister and the minister of national security, I’m of the view that you will see some forward movement with that second phase in possibly early in 2016.”

He added: “That’s a live issue, I know the prime minister is very interested in it, so is my minister, and we certainly are, as a team, very excited about any prospects of further pushing it up, because it delivers good results.”