NASSAU, BAHAMAS — An increase in armed robberies is being investigated by police, according to Assistant Commissioner Solomon Cash.
This trend was announced in a press conference held by the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) updating the media on the crime management strategies and investigations for the year.
Cash said: “You will notice that most of these armed robberies are occurring in the South-Central division.
“That is the Grove and Englerston areas.
“You will also notice that there are several robberies occurring at small convenience stores and the rest occurring on the streets,” he added.
In his Annual State of Crime address in January, Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle announced that armed robberies decreased by 41 percent in 2020, with 313 incidents compared to 531 in 2019.
To combat this, officers offered tips to keep residents safe from being victims of armed robberies.
Assistant Superintendent Shanta Knowles said yesterday: “We have patrols all day and all night on this island.
“So, we are using all of our resources to prevent armed robberies from happening, but we need information to come to us so that we can put the resources in the right place.
“We want to remind people, especially store owners. where we see that when incidents occur, they have surveillance on their premises and they are not working.
“We are asking those people to ensure that, if you have surveillance on your premises, that those machines are working and are in strategic places around the business establishment that they can help us to catch would-be criminals that come to the store.”
Rolle’s earlier address also noted that the majority of armed robberies occurred on the streets, with business establishments and residences close behind.
This prompted Knowles to encourage residents and business owners to travel with smaller amounts of cash.
“Again, we find that still large sums of cash are being kept in cash registers and on persons who are walking in the community,” she said.
“We find still that some business owners are allowing their employees to make bank deposits. This is a no-no.”
The assistant superintendent offered the same tips to bus drivers, who yesterday told Eyewitness News they have been targets of armed robberies as they carry large sums of cash on their route.
“I’d say to bus drivers, if you are being targeted or being robbed, those matters need to be reported to the police as soon as they occur,” Knowles said.
“Again, we know there is money on busses, so we ask bus drivers also not to keep large sums. At some points in the day, [they need to] get rid of large sums to make themselves less of a target.”
Knowles urged residents to follow the safety tips provided by the police every day to prevent the occurrence of incidents.
The tips can be found on the RBPF’s website.
Written by Eyewitness News Intern Devonté Hanna
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