The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

A recent lull in murders is the result of “consistency” in targeting “prolific offenders” and a “team approach” by law enforcement agencies in executing the government’s most recent anti-crime measures, Chief Superintendent Clayton Fernander said yesterday.

Chief Supt Fernander, the officer-in-charge of the Central Detective Unit (CDU), told The Tribune that the recent respite in murders is the result of the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) taking the government’s anti-crime policies “to another level” and consequently “touching the right people” in crime hot spots on a “consistent basis”.

The country’s last homicide occurred on February 26, marking the 32nd killing so far this year. This represents a 77 per cent increase in killings compared to the first two months of 2016, when 18 people were killed by the end of February, according to police statistics.

Chief Supt Fernander also said the RBPF is having no issues in its attempts to restore law and order to the streets, asserting: “We are in charge.”

He also suggested that the involvement of the Royal Bahamas Defense Force (RBDF) has contributed to the crime fight, claiming that the two are functioning as “one law enforcement agency” fighting “for one goal,” which is to “make sure that this country is safe and our citizens and visitors are safe.”

Chief Supt Fernander’s comments came three weeks after National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage announced several anti-crime strategies, including lockdowns, mobile police vans and an armed forces partnership to combat the bloody spate of murders plaguing the capital at the time.

Dr Nottage’s comments at the time came after eight people were killed within the span of one week, including a 15-year-old juvenile, a shooting spree so violent that Prime Minister Perry Christie likened the Bahamas’ crime situation to the “Wild West.”

Since Dr Nottage’s announcement, however, there has been a noticeable decline in the number of murders, with just four confirmed murders taking place since February 16, according to official police crime reports.

However, there were 10 shooting incidents in that time span, four of which led to the four murders recorded by police since February 16, according to police reports.

“You’ve got to credit your Royal Bahamas Police Force, as you see the operation continues on a consistent basis,” Chief Supt Fernander said when contacted by The Tribune. “And we are continuing to target those prolific offenders. And we have been touching some people.

“You go back and check where persons were charged, go back and check for the last couple of weeks, you will see where a number of persons were charged and remanded for a number of murders, and I’m talking about the recent murders thus far for the year. And even late last year.

“As we speak there is an individual who is being arraigned for two separate murders, and we’re going to bring him down to charge him for an additional one, so that’s going to be three. He’s being arraigned (Thursday) and we will likely bring him down sometime (today) and charge him for a third matter.

“And those persons who have since been arraigned and charged, we know it’s a possibility that they could be connected to some other murders. But we are following our lines of inquiry to continue to build our evidence and then proceed with these individuals.

“And we are doing just that. We are touching some people. We are touching the right people, and we are consistent in what we are doing out there.”

Of the RBDF’s involvement and consequent impact on the RBPF’s policing efforts, Chief Supt Fernander said: “We are one law enforcement agency, and we are fighting for one goal: that is to make sure that this country is safe and our citizens and visitors are safe. We are fighting for one goal.

“It’s a team approach, and when I say team approach I’m talking about the team approach across the board with all of our uniformed partners and all the law enforcement agencies, we are working together as a team. And the name of the game is consistency.

“The members of the public want to see that consistent presence out there. The commissioner’s policing plan is clear, and we are executing that on a daily basis and we are taking it to another level to ensure that everybody is safe in this country.”

Chief Supt Fernander also said the RBPF is having no challenges in its policing efforts.

“We are in charge,” he said. “As you can see we continue to go after them. If you are wanted and suspected for a crime we go at you and we go at you as a team. As I continue to say we work in this as a team. We have no challenges our there, we are in charge and we continue to go in full force as a team to go at these criminals.”

He added: “Nobody is above the law. If you commit a crime, we will be coming after you and we will be coming after you with the full arm of the law.”