The Tribune

CONCERNS have been raised that law enforcement officials are trying to conceal crime statistics, more specifically instances of murder, to give the impression that government is succeeding in its fight against crime.

The issue surfaced following several calls to The Tribune news room alleging that a man was recently found dead in bushes at Abaco. It is also claimed that the victim had substantial trauma to the head and was wrapped in a sheet.

However, Terecita Pinder, press liaison officer for Grand Bahama and the Northern Region, said nothing of that nature had been reported to the Royal Bahamas Police Force in Abaco.

New Providence authorities also denied knowledge of the incident.

Suspicions of a potential cover-up have circulated since last week after the general public was confused by the comments of two high ranking officials. Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade first announced that lesser crimes would not be counted in major crime statistics. Keith Bell, a former police officer, now State Minister of National Security, in an attempt to run damage control, later clarified those comments insisting that the major crimes category would be omitted.

“We have to further break down the statistics,” Mr Bell said. “But all of the information will be released to the media. We aren’t hiding anything. We are just grouping it differently, breaking them down into sub-categories so you will be able to see everything better.”

For several months cases have been brought before the courts of which the media has had no prior knowledge.

The most startling was a spree of rapes about which the police had not notified the public. Their reasoning for silence, police said, was to shield victims from harm. National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage had told the press that neighbours had been notified. However, it was difficult to verify his claims when neighbours said they had not been notified and had had no knowledge of the incidents.

And then there was the sentencing of a man to four years in prison for attempting to smuggle $2 million worth of heroin into the country and the arrest of 18 Brazilians over an alleged human smuggling operation. None of the matters were reported to the media in the police’s daily press releases.