By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

THE country’s murder count in 2019 was pushed to 96, according to The Tribune’s records, a 5.5 percent increase over 2018’s 91 killings.

While this count did not fall in line with National Security Minister Marvin Dames’ ambitious goal of seeing the year close out with less than 85 murders, it signalled the second consecutive year that such crimes were less than 100 since 2010.

It is also a considerable decrease of 21 percent from 2017’s high of 122 murders.

Although last year’s murders represent a minimal increase over 2018, officials have already attributed the change to police resources being stretched thin in dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian.

In an interview with reporters early Wednesday morning, Police Commissioner Anthony Ferguson said he thought the Royal Bahamas Police Force did “exceptionally” well tackling murders despite having to adjust its policing plan to suit urgent circumstances.

“You can always say the things that you would like to do and I think you have to be optimistic about these things but you have to appreciate and understand that only the good Lord can predict the future,” the commissioner said of the murder count on the sidelines of Wednesday’s New Year’s Day Junkanoo Parade.

“But I believe that I can say the officers performed exceptionally well. I had indicated in a much earlier report that up to the 1st of September the murder count was at 61 and once hurricane Dorian hit and we had to adjust our policing strategy and so September and October we saw some increases in there but immediately after we adjusted our programme and you see the numbers went extremely down and we managed it from October straight into the very last day in the year.”

However, according to this newspaper’s records the nation was at 61 murders by August 25 with two more murders to follow on August 30.

The month of September then saw 15 murders, with one in Grand Bahama and October had 10 killings.

There were then three fatal incidents in November and five in December including one in Grand Bahama.

He continued: “So I am very pleased. I cannot ask for anything else out of the officers. They performed exceptionally well having to police New Providence and the Hurricane Dorian tragedy in Abaco.”

The final murder of 2019 happened early Monday morning when a man was shot dead in Coconut Grove. Police have yet to release his identity.

Police said shortly before 2am officers received reports of gunshots in the Robinson Road area.

Shortly afterwards a man’s body was found lying on the ground at Second Street, Coconut Grove, with injuries.

Paramedics were called to the scene and attempted to revive him, but he was pronounced dead.

Prior to this a mother-of-six, Cleo Lockhart, was found shot to death on a track road in Nassau Village, marking the country’s 95th murder.

Well-known religious leader Bishop Simeon Hall has said in order to curb the escalating homicides in the capital, the country needs to stop “playing the blame game” and instead inspire more fear into the minds of criminals.

“As a society, we’ve done miserably in placing fear in the minds of criminals. Most hardened criminals in our country are not afraid of the police and believe they could beat the court system,” Bishop Hall said.

“…We must match this culture of death with a national approach where the fear of crime by the public will be outdistanced by the fear to commit crime by criminals...We need to send a strong message that if you do the crime, you will do the time.”