By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames yesterday defended the efforts of police officers for their contributions in helping to reduce overall crime, telling critics there is no data to suggest the COVID-19 regulations had an impact on offences.

Speaking to reporters ahead of yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, he said Bahamians should be celebrating officers for their hard work after the 2020 statistics revealed crime dropped by 16 percent.

Mr Dames said the situation was especially noteworthy considering the fact the successes were achieved against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“A significant amount of our police resources went towards fighting COVID,” he said. “A significant amount of our Defence Force officers went to wars fighting COVID so those are officers you had to pull from the day-to-day management of crime to deal with this unexpected issue.

“So, you had less officers to focus on their day-to-day routine and you still saw a significant decrease in the overall crime measures. That’s what we ought to be celebrating.”

On Monday, Police Commissioner Paul Rolle presented his annual crime report to the nation, revealing that overall crime declined by 16 percent in 2020 compared to 2019 – a situation he also credited to the work of law enforcement.

Commissioner Rolle said murders declined by 23 percent, representing the lowest numbers recorded in the last 15 years. He said since reaching a peak in 2015, murders have steadily declined in the country over the last several years, with just 73 recorded incidents for 2020 compared with 95 in 2019.

However, some observers point to the COVID restrictions as the source for the overall decrease in crime.

Mr Dames did not share the same viewpoint yesterday and stressed there is no current data to suggest the COVID-19 regulations had an impact on crime.

Pointing to global crime statistics, Mr Dames said there are some nations worldwide where similar restrictions have been implemented which have experienced an uptick in crime.

“Listen, here’s the reality and I know there has been a lot of focus and concentration in this area. There is no empirical study to suggest how much curfews or lockdowns would’ve impacted our (crime) numbers,” he said.

“When you look at countries around the world, as was noted by the commissioner, shootings as well as murders climbed significantly right and so when you look at I guess anyone wanting to research and study this in future, then we’ll have to measure what impact you know these lockdowns and curfews would’ve had on our overall numbers. But, when you look at the trend around the world, it is not reflecting that that is the case all right.”

He also addressed the 54 percent increase in police involved shootings in 2020 compared to 2019. Overall, there were 20 incidents of police involved shootings last year, resulting in 11 deaths and 11 non-fatal injuries.

Mr Dames said while police involved shootings are always unfortunate, sometimes such confrontations cannot be avoided as officers have a right to protect themselves.

However, he acknowledged that there are some instances when officers are at fault.

“Unfortunately, it’s the world that we’re living in today,” he said. “And this is something that grieves me every day when a young man loses his life or is shot, all right. But the police officers are trained to defend themselves and they have to do it. This is the world that we’re living in. We see it all over the world.

“And what I would say and caution our young men is that anytime you decide to take on the police, it’s a decision you will come to regret because police officers are trained for situations like this.”

In instances where police conduct is called into question, Mr Dames said: “Well, we have a system in place that will determine. Those who are at fault, well they have to face the consequences all right, but many of the instances in the country are young men continue to challenge police officers.

“What we have done to ensure full transparency is we have introduced dash and body cams so that the Bahamian people have full transparency so that no one, including police officers, are acting above the law.”