By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

ASSISTANT Commissioner of Police Stephen Dean said the government has “taken steps” to acquire additional closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) for New Providence to “assist in minimising armed robberies” and combatting crime.

ACP Dean’s comments came a day after a Commonwealth Bank employee was shot in the neck and robbed while sitting on the beach eating lunch.

According to reports, shortly after noon on Tuesday, the victim, who has been identified as Angelo Black, 39, was sitting in his Ford Ranger truck on Yamacraw Beach when a man with a handgun got in and ordered him to drive to an ATM on Wulff Road, where he forced him to withdraw some cash.

The gunman then ordered Mr Black to drive to his home. Mr Black refused and instead crashed his truck into another car and attempted to escape.

The suspect shot Mr Black in the neck and pushed him out off the vehicle before speeding off in an unknown direction. Mr Black was taken to hospital, where he is listed in serious but stable condition.

Police later recovered Mr Black’s truck abandoned in an area off Carmichael Road.

ACP Dean said yesterday that police have no one in custody for the incident but are following “significant leads”. He said police believe the incident was connected to several other armed robberies.

ACP Dean also sent a warning to the public and business owners to be “more vigilant” in their daily routines.

“If you do not have to carry large amounts of cash do not. If you are confronted by a robber, do not try to resist. If they ask for money turn it over because your life is more important than the money.

“We are following updates on the armed robbery on the beach and we believe this might be a trend with those perpetrators. We believe these are crimes of opportunity so please be careful the places you go,” ACP Dean said.

“If you travel late at night be careful and make sure persons are not following you. We noticed a trend with persons arriving home being held and these suspects are following them home from the last place they went. So call someone and tell them you are coming home and to turn on the light. CCTV has been a tremendous help and the government has taken the steps to acquire additional camera’s to place in New Providence to help in reducing and minimising crime. Homeowners, invest in cameras and business persons invest in maintaining your cameras.”

ACP Dean also said police have found that most of the people responsible for the armed robberies are “prolific offenders in and out of the system”.

While unveiling his crime plan for 2016, Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade revealed that the country experienced a record number of armed robberies.

He said that despite a four per cent decrease in serious crimes against the person compared to the same period in 2015, 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.

Attempted robberies decreased from 31 to 12, a drop of 61 per cent, and robberies decreased by 43 per cent from 350 in 2014 to 200 in 2015, according to the crime statistics.