No murders recorded so far this year in Reg 5 – Regional Commander

– reports serious crimes down by 31%

Serious crime in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) has seen a decline of 31 per cent when compared with the corresponding period (January to November) last year.
This is according to Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner Kurleigh Simon, who noted that for the year so far, there has been no murder in his division.
With zero murders and only one case of robbery under arms recorded so far this year, Region Five is showing a 31.3 per cent reduction in serious crime for 2023.
This time last year, the region had recorded a total of 32 instances of serious crimes, inclusive of one murder. However, the figure for this year stands at 22.
Simon made this announcement during the launch of the region’s Christmas Policing Plan on Thursday.
This plan, he noted, is to ensure that citizens have a peaceful, crime-free, and festive season while at the same time providing a safe environment for persons to shop and spend and make money.
“We expect that this would create some amount of risk for the Police and members of the public because there will be mass gatherings at commercial and entertainment areas and increased presence of persons on the roadways.”
The Commander made reference to an armed robbery committed during the Christmas period in 2022, at Mahaicony, but the perpetrators were not from that region.
He pointed out that if the Police in the Capital City and on the East Coast tighten up their patrols and security, the criminals will look for other areas to carry out their activity. Hence, he said Region Five must be on the alert and also be prepared and act in a proactive way.
However, the Commander noted that the demand for beef during the Christmas period is likely to result in an increase in cattle rustling.
“It is a known fact that Region Five is known for cattle rustling. People just go stealing animals all the time,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Commander called on people to be on the lookout for counterfeit currency. He said those operating businesses and those who would be promoting social events are the ones who are likely to be targeted.
“How do we intend to police the area for the Christmas period? We will have increased patrols, we will put more resources out there to have a presence, we will network with other agencies and we will have a series of beats and boots throughout the region, particularly in those commercial areas,” he pointed out.
He called on citizens not to be moving around with cash which they do not need at the time.
“Make a list of what you want to shop and where you are going to shop. In so going you should have an idea of what the price ranges are so when you go to the counter, you would have an idea how much money you need to take out from your purse because crime is not limited to any one area.”
Meanwhile, as it relates to traffic, the Assistant Commissioner said so far for the year, there have been 11 deaths on the region’s roads compared with 6 for the corresponding period last year. (Andrew Carmichael)