The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames has his sights set on a murder count that is below 85 by the end of this year.

The minister’s goal, outlined yesterday outside of Cabinet, is more ambitious than the one in the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit report that said the Minnis administration wants a murder reduction to 85 by 2021.

“This is a measurement as in any and all countries you set standards. I think it is that we would like to see the murder count at 85,” Mr Dames said.

“I contend that while we have that as a measurement and this is what any developed country will do, set measurements and standards for their agencies which is a good thing, I applaud the prime minister who actually was the one with the vision to bring about and to introduce the delivery unit to the Bahamas. It was first started I believe in the UK some years ago which is absolutely important.”

He continued: “Our objective is to get those numbers as low as we can every year and I would like to see it below 85 by the end of this year. That is what I would like to see and that’s what the police would like to see.”

Asked if this was a realistic goal, Mr Dames said “of course” it was as he was confident in the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s strategies, programmes and policies.

“When we see double digit decreases in many areas as it relates to crime whether it’s crime against the property or crime against the person, people get in the comfort zone and feel that’s something that is very easy to achieve. What you see taking place now in terms of the double digit decreases in many of these significant categories, it’s an amazing feat when you compare what’s happening to other countries.

“If you get single digit decreases, many countries are celebrating so while we do have a tremendous amount of work ahead of us I’m encouraged by some of these decreases.

“Will it fluctuate from time to time yes but the thing is we feel confident that we are in fact on the right track and we will continue to work with our law enforcement agencies continue to work with the Bahamian community and other important stakeholders to ensure that collectively that we’re continuing to move our crime numbers in the right direction.”

The country closed out 2018 with 91 reported murders. This was the first time since 2010, when 94 people were murdered, that fewer than 100 murders were recorded in a single year.

Eighty seven people were murdered in 2009. So far this year, there have been 42 murders, according to this newspaper’s records.