By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

The government remains “determined and committed” in its ongoing battle with violent crime heading into the new year, according to Prime Minister Perry Christie.

Mr Christie’s statements – at the New Year’s Day Junkanoo parade – come after a year in which the country saw 122 murders, according to The Tribune’s records. This year’s homicides count surpassed the 119 that police recorded in 2013.

Regarding what the government plans to do differently this year in tackling violent crime, Mr Christie said: “We have new strategies that we are going to employ. Those strategies will be told to you shortly. The Minister of National Security and the Commissioner of Police have worked it out, but we will continue to deploy resources, continue to add to the police force, continue towards ensuring that in all of these areas that are hot spots, that we have sufficient police officers as a form of deterrence towards criminal activity.” 

“We are not going to compromise on our efforts; we are determined and committed to not allow a small band of criminals to cause us the problems that they are causing this country and its reputation.”

The last murder of 2014 took place on Tuesday in Nassau Village. Randy McNeil, 29, was reportedly at a local bar at Matthew Street when he got into an argument with another man. McNeil left the bar and was on his way home when several gunshots were fired at him. He was reportedly shot in his chest and was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to police, McNeil was on bail and was being electronically monitored for a serious offence. Police also said they were following “significant leads” into the matter.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Leon Bethel, told The Tribune that the New Year’s Day parade the night before had been “quiet” in the capital.

Last November, after the National Security Council met to discuss new crime fighting initiatives, National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage said the Royal Bahamas Police Force and the government were still in a “state of reassessment” over crime. However he declined to reveal the new crime fighting initiatives, saying it was still the government’s position not to enlighten criminals on the measures that were proposed.