By RIEL MAJOR

Tribune Staff Reporter 

rmajor@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames yesterday insisted that police are solving crimes, although he admitted that a recent spate of criminal activity over the last month has made the job “tough” for officers.

Speaking to reporters at the Paul Farquharson Conference Centre, Mr Dames said: “They (police) continue to arrest these people. They have people in custody now for some of those matters that occurred this week and they are finding a nexus between quite of bit of them. They are solving the matters.

“I mean you have a situation where, I think the last time I gave it how many people we had on bail for murder (was) well over 100 — that’s unheard of in any country. How many in jail either on remand or serving time, I think it was well over 200, so the police are in fact doing their job.” 

He added: “Sometimes you arrest a guy, he (is) on bail for murder and you arrest him for another murder, so the police are doing their jobs. Are they there yet? No, they are far from it.”

Mr Dames said yesterday’s contract signing for the expansion of the government’s closed-circuit television system is a clear example his ministry is providing law enforcement with the proper tools and training. 

“We just signed a contract this morning for 507 cameras, if you look on the grass (at police headquarters) you see a fleet of new vehicles and so we continue to send officers off and we continue to provide them with the best in technology,” he said. 

“Very shortly in a few weeks we’ll be signing for the body cam contract as well as the drone’s contract, which is a multiagency approach that we will be able to lock this country right down, once we intergrade all of this technology and roll it out.”

Mr Dames said the police have a lot of work to do but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

He said: “They have work to do yeah, they have a lot of work to do. After having said that, this is a manifestation of the neglect that all of us bear some responsibility for over the decades. 

“Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Of course there is, we are very confident that the things we are doing will further assist us in getting us where we need to go”

There have been 14 recorded murders so far this month, more than double the total number of murders police recorded in September 2018, which was five. 

According to The Tribune’s records, there have been 77 recorded murders so far this year.