By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis said yesterday he saw “nothing substantive” in Commissioner Ellison Greenslade’s policing plan for 2016 and warned that if officers “do not get more aggressive” the crime problem will never change.

Dr Minnis told The Tribune that while he respects the commissioner, a five per cent decrease in overall crime is “nothing to be proud of” while violent crime is on the rise.

While unveiling his new policing plan last week, Mr Greenslade said 2015’s plan “delivered exceptionally good results” therefore “many of the strategic objectives and actions of last year’s plan are being retained”.

However, Dr Minnis said with a record breaking number of homicides in 2015, you “cannot expect to do the same things in 2016 and get a different result”.

He added: “What is the big deal about a five per cent decrease when murder continues to rise? Rape is up, murder is up and armed robberies are up. There is nothing substantive in the report.”

“Crime is continuing to spiral out of control and there is nothing aggressive in the report.

“We don’t need helicopters and artillery, we need the morale of the police force to increase, we need officers to be more aggressive and we need the political interference in the police force to stop. I have been told that many senior officers have private security businesses on the side and they spend their time dealing with their private business and neglect the job they were hired to do.

“You cannot be doing the same things over and over and expect a different result. If you are serious about crime you need to have vehicles stationed on the corners of known crime hot spots, increase the road blocks, be more aggressive and let people know that you are serious.”

According to figures released last week, despite a four per cent decrease in serious crimes against the person in 2015 compared to the same period in 2014, murder, rape, attempted rape, unlawful sexual intercourse and armed robbery all increased by 19 per cent, 16 per cent, 33 per cent, 11 per cent and five per cent respectively.

The numbers also show that attempted murder fell by nine per cent, robbery fell by 43 per cent and attempted robbery fell by 61 per cent.

In crimes against the property, burglary and shopbreaking each rose by two per cent, stealing from a vehicle rose by 14 per cent and stolen vehicles increased by eight per cent.

However, housebreaking fell by 25 per cent and stealing dropped 18 per cent, according to the figures.

The statistics also show that overall crime fell by five per cent in 2015.

Last year, Prime Minister Perry Christie pledged that tougher crime measures would be unveiled in 2016. It was expected that they would be outlined in the commissioner’s new policing plan.

However, the plan contained many initiatives that are already underway.

Among the few new ideas in the document is a plan to acquire a helicopter for rapid response to serious crime scenes, fleeing felons and for the patrol of hot spots.

The document also revealed plans to begin construction on a forensic science facility and acquiring unmanned aerial vehicles. Among the old ideas are plans to continue saturation patrols and extend the use of the existing closed circuit television programme (CCTV).

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Commissioner Greenslade described last year as “terrible and disgraceful.”

He said 2015 was a “very difficult year filled with crime challenges” for the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) but pledged that officers will do “everything within their power to perform their duties, maintain a peaceful and orderly society and enhance public trust and confidence.”