The Guyana Police Force on Monday revealed that it has recorded a 12 per cent decrease in serious crimes at the end of February 2016 when compared to the same period last year.
Among the serious crimes monitored by the Force are murder, robbery under arms, robbery with violence, robbery with aggravation, larceny from the person, break and enter and larceny, burglary, rape, and kidnapping.
The decrease the police boasted, is as a result of continuous emphasis on “intelligence-led policing, capacity building of the Criminal Investigations Department, its social crime prevention programme and enhancing police community relations.”
The police stated that a total of 25 murders were recorded at the end of February 2016, which was the similar to that of February, 2015.
Of the 25 murders committed, nine were as a result of robberies, five were domestic related, 10 were of the disorderly type, and one is so far undetermined. To date, four murders have been recorded for March.
In addition, the police stated that at the end of February, robbery under arms overall has decreased by 4 per cent in comparison to the same period in 2015.
The statistics indicate a decrease of 9 per cent in the number of armed robberies involving the use of firearms; while there was a 4 per cent increase in armed robberies where instruments other than firearms were used by the perpetrators.
The statistics revealed that there has been a decrease of 13 per cent in reports of rape, with 48 reports at the end of February this year compared to 55 for the same period last year.
Break and Enter and Larceny and Burglary have shown an overall decrease of 11 per cent. Moreover, there has been a whopping 17 percent reduction in Break and Enter and Larceny.
Further, the police have seized a total of 10 illegal firearms comprising five pistols, four revolvers and one shotgun. However, in relation to domestic violence, a total of 473 reports were reported with 311 cases being made out.
Meanwhile, the traffic department has recorded 17 road fatalities from 17 accidents up to the end of February 2016 when compared to 19 fatalities from 12 accidents for the same period in 2015. The statistics proved an 11 per cent decrease.
There have been decreases in other categories of traffic accidents comprising serious, minor and damage.
Pedestrians have been the main category of road users affected in road fatalities with five such persons having lost their lives at the end of February 2016. In addition three cyclists, three motorcyclists, four drivers, one passenger in a vehicle and one pillion rider have also lost their lives.
Speeding has been the major contributory factor to fatal accidents, having been the cause of 10 of the 17 fatal accidents at the end of February 2016.
Finally, the police stated that a total of 11,783 cases were made against errant motorists up to the end of February.
Of these 4080 cases were for speeding, 442 for driving under the influence of alcohol, 130 for using cell phone while driving and 379 for failing to wear seat belt.
Up to Sunday, March 13, six other persons have lost their lives from six fatal accidents.
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