The Tribune

By SANCHESKA DORSETT

Tribune Staff Reporter

sdorsett@tribunemedia.net

MINISTER of National Security Marvin Dames said yesterday that the Free National Movement (FNM) will start rolling out its new crime plan "with immediate effect" but cautioned that there will not be a "quick fix" to the high levels of crime.

He did not specify what these initiatives will be.

Mr Dames said he is currently in the process, along with the executive team of the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF), of examining how to best utilise RBPF officers and resources in an effort to develop medium-term and long-term plans to reduce crime.

In the short term, he said officers will saturate New Providence, particularly in high crime areas.

In an interview with The Tribune, Mr Dames said he was "very concerned" about the high level of crime.

His comments came a day after a man was shot dead in the Carmichael Road area, bringing the country's murder count to 58 for the year, according to The Tribune's records.

The murder count is now 14 per cent higher than it was at this point in 2016, when the country had recorded 51 homicides.

"We just took office and so we need some time to get everything together, this is not a quick fix," the former deputy police commissioner said on Monday.

"I have met with the leadership of the police force and we began briefings and strategies and now we will begin rolling out their plan with immediate effect and the public will begin to see things as soon as possible.

"We began the process of seeing where we are currently, and seeing what was done in the past so we can begin to do things in the long and short-term. We have to think beyond the RBPF and see what role other agencies and members of society can play in reducing crime.

"I have met with the command of the police force as early as today (Monday) and later I am meeting with the other senior officers and junior officers. We are discussing how we can utilise resources and how we can improve visibility. So we have increased police presence in communities that are greatly affected by crime."

Last week, the newly elected FNM government promised to "implement modern crime fighting initiatives," collaborate with civic leaders, including the religious community and initiate neighbourhood safety programmes in an effort to "reduce the culture of violence" in The Bahamas.

The Minnis administration also promised to have a zero tolerance for all crimes, including minor infractions.

The government, in the Speech from the Throne, which was read by Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling at the opening of Parliament last Wednesday, also promised to enact legislation to establish the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and formally establish a Guns and Gangs Unit.

In the FNM's Manifesto 2017, before the election, the party laid out 20 ways it plans to decrease crime and improve the effectiveness of the police force.

The party said if elected, it would develop a modern, efficient crime fighting machine; establish, build, and equip an independent forensic lab; work with community based partners; eliminate habitats where criminality flourishes; enforce Marco's Law and establish a sexual offences register; use state of the art technology; establish a national neighbourhood watch consultative council; establish a public sector anti-corruption agency; conduct a comprehensive review of police officers compensation and re-institute term limits for the commissioner of police, commodore of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and the commissioner of corrections, among other things.