NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Following the Government’s set target to reduce murders to 85 by 2021, Minister of National Security, Marvin Dames said that this goal is not only realistic, but he is confident that it will be achieved.
The prediction was included in the prime minister’s Delivery Unit Report, which was released on June 20th.
As it now stands, the country’s murder count stood at 42 as of yesterday.
The last time the Bahamas experienced a murder count that was a little over 85 was in 2009, when the country closed the year out with a murder count of 90.
Before heading to yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, Dames noted that his ministry has some work to do to achieve this target, but they are on the right track.
“Will it fluctuate from time to time? Yes, but the thing is we feel confident that we are on the right track and we will continue to work with our law enforcement agencies [and] with the Bahamian community to ensure other important stakeholders that we are continuing to move our crime numbers in the right direction,” Dames said.
Dames also noted that this goal is realistic.
“Anything is realistic when you are confident in your strategy and in the programs and your policies,” he said. “Our objective is to get those numbers as low as we can every year and I would like to see it below 85 percent by end of this year.”
Meanwhile, the 56-page Delivery Unit Report released last week outlines the objectives and key performance indicators of a host of ministries, including the Ministry of National Security, detailing targets relating to crime reduction, strengthening of the border and reducing recidivism and trafficking in persons.
