NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe. Photo: Dante Carrer
By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS
Tribune Staff Reporter
lmunnings@tribunemedia.net
NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe reported a 48 percent increase in charges against people this year compared to the same period last year.
He said police arrested 13,551 people for various offences this year, an eight percent rise from 12,546 arrests during the same period in 2023. Of those arrested, 9,347 were charged in court, a 60 per cent charge rate for both major and minor crimes. He shared this statistic during a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister on Friday.
Additionally, he reported 3,669 court returns from the Magistrates’ Courts, which included 2,605 convictions. He noted that 14 cases were discharged due to the defendant’s death, while 74 resulted in acquittals at the end of the trial. The court discharged 562 cases, and the virtual complainant withdrew in 413 cases.
Concerns have been raised about the lengthy timelines for some criminal trials, as well as issues with alleged violent offenders being granted bail only to re-offend or be killed on the streets.
Officials spoke about plans to expedite criminal trials and address the longstanding court backlog. This includes establishing a court backlog committee, reforming criminal case management, and assigning an additional judge to the criminal division in New Providence.
They said several factors contribute to the delays in the trial process, including access to information, the extension of legal aid assistance to unrepresented persons, and increasing challenges to confession statements.
Mr Munroe’s statistics came ahead of the launch of the “Clear, Hold, Build” initiative, a three-phase crime plan jointly led by the police and the Ministries of National Security and Education. The initiative aims to combat gangs and violent crime while enhancing public safety, with the first phase targeting the Englerston community.
Set to launch today, the initiative will last approximately three to four weeks and focus on disrupting gang operations, targeting leaders and members, and removing vehicles and abandoned buildings linked to criminal activities.
Englerston was chosen for the first round of the “Clear, Hold, Build” initiative due to recent crime trends indicating a rise in serious offences such as murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, and reports of gunshots. Notably, eight of the country’s murders this year have occurred within the Englerston community.
Comments
Porcupine 2 months ago
The real criminals are in parliament, yes Mr. Munroe? Mr. Munroe, you are reading the papers, yes? The people are as worried about the real crimes taking this country down. PLP is a criminal organization according to every scandal that has hit the international news. How's that voice note investigation going? How about the Nygard scandal? Nygard was convicted in Canada. What about here? What is it we're lacking in the national security arena? Brains or ethics? It is one or the other.
ThisIsOurs 2 months ago
Did they count the man whose teeth they knocked out or the woman that the ASP punched in the eye with enough force to detach her retina after she rebuffed his obscene sexual advances? In the end he had her arrested for the crime of walking down the street with instructions to the officers to "bring her to his station"?
Still no info on what happened to that officer, it wouldnt matter of the lady were a drug dealer, prostitute or serial killer. That's some serious sex slavery like behaviour that should have been taken very seriously. But wasnt. (Abuse of prostitutes is a serious issue by the way, they're often targets of serial killers). The only news outlet that even reported it was the Tribune everyone else said and acted like, "not touching it", not even to acknowledge the incident happened.
ThisIsOurs 2 months ago
Clear Hold and Build is looking an awful lot like Saturation patrols. Recall the last time they ran into problems after willy nilly pushing down houses without notifying the owners. But if they're starting again perhaps they can push down the buildings on east Bay street.
Sickened 2 months ago
It looks like a large number of cases are discharged or withdrawn. Sounds like bogus arrests or maybe just awful police work where police intentionally add written comments over official statements? This 'increase in charges' statistic is just a red herring, there to confuse the D average.
hrysippus 2 months ago
Who was the minister who was reported on the front page of the local media as saying that he did not like statistics? Hopefully I will remember soon......sigh.
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