By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net 

CRIME, including murder, is down this year, according to National Security Minister Wayne Munroe, who defended the government’s record in the face of opposition pushback and fresh public concern over a string of deadly weekend shootings.

He said homicides had fallen nine percent and major crime is down across all categories, though he admitted the numbers are still “too high” for comfort.

He said crimes against the person, including murder, attempted murder, rape, unlawful sexual intercourse, and armed robbery, are down 25 percent. Crimes against property, such as burglary, housebreaking, shopbreaking, stealing, and vehicle theft, are down 11 percent.

He also reported regional declines in crime: 14 percent in New Providence, 14 percent in Grand Bahama and the northern Bahamas, and 19 percent in the Family Islands.

Police efforts, he said, have led to the recovery of 292 illegal firearms and more than 20,000 rounds of ammunition. On drug-related offences, over 3,000 pounds of marijuana, 43 marijuana plants, and nearly 2,000 pounds of cocaine were seized. He said 1,142 people were arrested for drug-related offences, with 910 formally charged.

He pointed to several government-led initiatives to fight crime, including the Clear-Hold-Build strategy and the introduction of anti-crime legislation such as the Anti-Gang Bill.

He said he expects the Director of Public Prosecutions to take full advantage of the new legal tools.

“Personally, I don’t understand why they don’t charge capital murder, but that’s an independent person that you all made independent, and we are addressing that,” he said.

The debate escalated when St Anne’s MP Adrian White referenced recent comments from Social Services Minister Myles Laroda, who revealed a troubling rise in cases involving women prostituting their children for financial gain. Mr White questioned how Mr Munroe could claim crime is down when such serious incidents appear to be on the rise.

Mr Munroe responded that the police rely on reported crimes and emphasised that certain offences, especially sexual crimes, are underreported.

He said the number of reported human trafficking cases has not increased but noted that some crimes, especially sexual offences, are heavily reliant on victims or witnesses coming forward, which can affect reporting rates.

“The public is warned that if you know of a crime against a minor, a sexual offence, you ought to report it,” he said, adding that the Trafficking in Persons Secretariat is taking care of two young Bahamian girls who a relative trafficked.

Later in the debate, St Barnabas MP Shanendon Cartwright criticised Mr Munroe’s presentation, calling it shallow and dismissive of critical issues within the national security portfolio.

“The member of Freetown stood up here and only for the last 30 minutes glossed over, in our view, the structure of national security,” he said. “He’s not talked about how the reservists have not been paid.”

In response, Mr Munroe clarified that police reservists are not salaried and that payment is subject to bureaucratic timing.

“Reservists have to be signed in by a regular officer. It is then transmitted to a particular section in headquarters,” he said. “In the bureaucracy, if it doesn’t hit the treasurer or finance by a certain date, it rolls over to the next month.”