By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

IN DIRECT response to a spate of murder and violent crimes in the capital, the Royal Bahamas Police Force launched an island wide anti-crime operation over the weekend aimed at “arresting prolific offenders and preventing serious incidents before they happen”, according to Assistant Commissioner of Police Leon Bethel.

Speaking with The Tribune, ACP Bethel said while the special operation, which has now been intensified, saw police officers “fan out” across New Providence, officers also concentrated on certain areas “known to be crime hot spots”.

Those areas include Yellow Elder Gardens, Fox Hill, East Street and its side corners, Bain and Grants Town, Nassau Village and certain portions of Carmichael Road.

Five persons were killed last week, including an off duty police officer who was shot in the head at point blank range Thursday night as he sat in a car with a female friend. Last Friday, a man was killed when he was shot around 8pm in the Nassau Village area.

Up to press time the country’s murder count stood at 114, just five shy of the 119 murders police said they recorded in 2013.

During the weekend operation, police seized three guns and arrested 60 people for various crimes, including, murder, rape, assault, possession of firearms and drugs. Additionally police ticketed 234 persons for traffic violations and closed a number of clubs for violating the terms of their business licenses.

ACP Bethel said these operations will continue into 2015.

He said while police are concerned about the murder rate, they are equally concerned about the number of armed robberies and shootings in the capital.

“This is going to be a continuous operation that will run with this intensity until after the New Year. We want to reduce the amount of crime on our streets. While we have been doing a great job arresting persons for serious offences and taking them before the courts we need to detect the crimes before they happen,” he said.

“We need to stop these crimes from happening so we have intensified our efforts to prevent crime. We need to allay the fears of the Bahamian people who are concerned about the armed robberies, the number of stolen vehicles, the shootings and the murders. We will remain on the streets and look at all angles of security, especially during this Christmas season.

“The whole idea is to prevent crime by going after persons we know are prolific offenders, hardcore criminals and traffic violators who have no regard for safety. We will send a clear message that the police will be here, we will be on the streets – we will reduce crime.

“We are concerned about every shooting that happens, a lot of them did not result in death, but every shooting where a Bahamian is harmed we are concerned,” he added. “We must recover guns, we need to take guns out of the hands of the criminals. We cannot just arrest people and take them to court; we need to arrest them before they commit these crimes. So we are looking at the periods when serious crimes are committed and saturating the streets with officers at those times, late evening and early mornings. Those times when persons are getting off from work, or will be shopping during the Christmas season, we will put more resources into those times.”

ACP Bethel said he hopes the public is “angry enough” to assist police by turning in known criminals.

“So far the operation has been a success and we took a number of persons off the streets, however, we want the Bahamian people to partner with us,” he said.

“The public should be angry and they should respond to that anger by committing themselves to partner with the police. Give us information on the people they know have guns. Once they do that we will go after anyone we have information on. Be a part of our campaign to reduce the violence, help us. Once that is done you will see less and less crime, we need the help of the public. We need you to be fed up enough to assist us in making the Bahamas a safe place for everyone.”

Mr Bethel said tips can be sent anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 328-TIPS.