By FARRAH JOHNSON

IN the wake of an increasing number of armed robberies in the capital, Chief Superintendent Solomon Cash of the Central Detective Unit urged residents to be vigilant and to take all necessary precautions to remain safe.

Referring to the most recent incident on Friday morning at about 6am, CSP Cash said while there is no need for alarm, the public should ensure they are aware of their surroundings at all times.

“There has always been armed robberies,” he told The Tribune.

“But we would like to advise people that in their movements throughout the communities to be cognizant of who may be targeting them.”

CSP Cash said the police have responded to the increase of robberies by “mobilising additional resources” to areas where such incidents frequently occur.

“We have noticed several armed robberies, one or two occurring in the eastern district of New Providence and that was a concern to us.”

“The last armed robbery that happened in that area around 6 am where a young lady was held up and robbed of her vehicle, those teams that we put in place there were able to make an arrest, also recovering that vehicle that was taken in the armed robbery,” he further explained.

CSP Cash confirmed the suspects are in police custody and said they will be probed to see if officers can “solve any additional matters coming out of that particular operation.”

“What I would want to say to members of the public who are travelling home is if they are taking the normal route that they usually take, we would ask them to be more cognizant of how they drive,” he added.

“If they see vehicles following them, or if they have to stop at dark junctions, (we ask them) to be aware of their surroundings and proceed with caution.”

CSP Cash also advised businesses to hire security firms that can monitor their establishments and encouraged people to “leave their lights on” to ensure that their residences are well lit when they are away from home.

“We also noticed a trend arising where one or two persons making deposits were held up and robbed,” he added.

“We want to say to business persons who are making these deposits... to engage private security firms who do that type of work with transporting large sums of cash - the armour car services.”

CSP Cash also noted that surveillance cameras can act as a “deterrent” to persons who wish to target a home or business establishment.

Still, he said, one of the most important things the public can do to decrease the frequency of armed robberies is to report the whereabouts of any illegal firearm by calling police anonymously via the TIP hotline at 376-TIPS (8477) or the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991/2.

“It’s not a regular occurrence that we’ll have persons just walk through communities and rob people at random,” CSP Cash said.

“Some of it are crimes of opportunity, but those ones that trends arise from, we (from) a police perspective go and we put additional resources in these communities and we target those incidences,” he said.