The Tribune

By LETRE SWEETING

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

POLICE press liaison officer Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings has urged Bahamians to be cautious on the roads and not to drink and drive this holiday season.

This comes after a man who was recently released from prison was shot dead on Thursday night on Eighth Street off Robinson Road, bringing the country’s murder count to 127 according to The Tribune’s records, topping the murder count for 2017, which was 122. The record number of killings in a year was 146, recorded in 2015.

Speaking to reporters on Friday on the sidelines of a press conference at the Royal Bahamas Police Force headquarters on East Street, CSP Skippings said: “Don't drink and drive. But if you must drink, make sure you have a responsible adult, make sure you have a designated driver.

“At this particular time in the year, I want to encourage you stay off the phone as you're driving, exercise tolerance while you're driving. And again, like I said, have a designated driver to ensure that everybody gets home safely after whatever function it is that you're attending.

“And also, as you're going home, I would encourage you to call family members, let them know that you're on your way home from a function, make sure they have the area lit up. So when you get home, you can see if any persons are lurking about in your yard."

She added: “Another thing too, when you get home, do not sit in your car in the front of your yard. Once you arrive at home, get out of your car, go inside your home, if there's something so pressing that you need to talk about, do it in the comfort of your home, but not in the front of your yard.

“What we see happening in our country today are crimes of opportunity, because persons are simply not being vigilant and not being aware of their surroundings. I want to encourage Bahamians, and all of those who are visiting our country during this particular season.

“Exhibit the same safety precautions you put in place when you travel abroad. And once you do that, I can assure you it will minimise and in some incidents prevent you from becoming a victim of crime,” she said.

Last week, Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis said his administration is concerned about the nation’s escalating murder rate, but is hopeful that their crime fighting initiatives will start “bearing fruit” soon.

“We are all concerned about the murder rate and the level of homicide in our country is unacceptable,” Mr Davis said. “We are putting in place initiatives to curb it and hopefully those initiatives will be bearing fruit in short order,” he said.

“We have a disruptive plan, which I can’t go into any details of. We have a saturation patrol plan. We have a violent breakers plan and we intend to engage and just those three I will speak to right now,” he continued.

"But we do have a plan that is now being implemented to arrest the murder rate we have,” Mr Davis said last week on the sidelines of an event in Great Harbour Cay.