The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

WITH the murder rate now up to 90 for the year, National Security Minister Marvin Dames yesterday said the police force will be beefing up manpower in the capital as the holiday season approaches.

"We have many police officers out there on the streets of New Providence and this is coupled in with the work that our police force and defence force officers are doing on the island of Grand Bahama and Abaco because we had to increase the numbers there as a result of Hurricane Dorian," he told reporters at Government House.

"But we recognise now that coming into the holiday period that we cannot take our eyes off of New Providence and… for the month, we may have had one or two murders. That's not bad, but we'll continue to do what we need to do to ensure that Bahamians are safe."

His comments to the press came days after a man was found shot dead in Pinewood Gardens on Tuesday, bringing the country's murder count to 90, according to this newspaper's records. A week earlier, a man was found shot dead outside his home on Ashley Close, off Hawk Ridge Road.

According to this newspaper's analysis, murders have increased by 18 percent compared to last year's figure around this time.

But by having more manpower on the streets of Nassau, Mr Dames suggested law enforcement officers are hoping to crack down on crime, including armed robberies -- which have been a near daily occurrence in recent weeks.

"The commissioner and his team are aggressively pursuing those individuals. They have now implemented their holiday strategy and that's super imposed on the ongoing strategy that they currently have to…protect our business people and residents," he continued.

"I can assure members of the general public that the police are out there and in large numbers and they will continue to do what they have to do to ensure that the good people of this nation are safe...the police have assured me that they're in holiday strategy mode...and to those that are hell bent on misbehaving, it's just a matter of time before we get you off the streets and I make no apologies for that...."

When asked if officers dispatched to the storm affected islands will be sent to assist officers on New Providence, Mr Dames replied that police officers will remain on the affected islands.

"We're not touching Abaco and we're not touching Grand Bahama. As a matter of fact..we're in the process of sending additional resources in the way of vehicles because we would have lost a significant amount of law enforcement vehicles (due to Dorian)," he said.

"We would have acquired maybe in excess of this inflow going in now close to 50 vehicles for Grand Bahama and Abaco for our law enforcement officers to create this visibility to ensure that the people of those islands remain safe and that they can begin this process of getting their lives back on track."

In the meantime, Mr Dames is urging residents and business owners to be vigilant and to take all the necessary precautions to remain safe as the holiday season draws near.

"There is no country in the world that can boast of having a zero crime rate. Like everywhere else, you have to be smart and take necessary precautions to keep you and your family safe," he said.