The Minister of National Security has admitted that he is not happy with the crime statistics in this country.
Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, in response to a question from Independent Senator Paul Richards on Tuesday, said he is unhappy that with 663 murders in the period September 2022-2023, “the percentage of suspects and persons arrested and charged for murders, was 16 per cent.”
Richards asked him if he was happy with that statistic, given the level of crime facing the country.
Hinds replied, “Absolutely not.”
He partly attributed this statistic to the use of high-powered firearms in many murders in recent times.
He added, “It is the reason why this minister, with the support of the Cabinet and the Government, would have spent a lot of time and resources to improving our scientific response to crime.”
Hinds identified improvements in the operations at the Forensic Sciences Centre in St James as one example of what Government has been doing.
He said improvements have been made to departments within the police service that deal with matters such as evidence recovery.
Hinds said, “The rate of killings in this country with the advent of all of these automatic weapons, using military grade ammunition, is really putting stresses on the system.”
He added this is why Government is taking action “to improve our border security.”
Hinds said the legislative approach is another strategy which Government takes towards fighting crime.