Assisted by Judicial Division head Denise Jacobs, he presented an update on the island's latest crime figures for the first half of this year. Jacobs' statistical data showed that there had been 14 murders for the year thus far.
There were 208 violent offences, of which 121 were armed robberies, 10 were rapes with extreme violence, and the remainder were cases of serious ill-treatment or threat with a weapon. There was a 20 per cent increase in arrests made in the first half of this year (266) compared to the same period last year (221).
Home invasion/burglaries decreased by 20 per cent, with 275 this year compared to 345 burglaries in 2010. Jacobs said this could be the result of a home invasion/burglary team that was installed in December 2010 and of the strengthening of the Forensic Department.
Unfortunately, statistics showed a 14 per cent increase in robberies: 121 this year compared to 106 reported in 2010. This, Jacobs said. is believed to be a result of some external factors over which the police do not have direct influence, such as the increased gold value, more demand from jewellers and pawnshops, businesses not adhering to closing times and not investing in preventative measures.
There were 198 thefts this year, a 15 per cent decrease compared to 2010 when there were 229 cases. Jacobs noted that car thefts had decreased by 15 per cent this year compared to last year, a result of the arrest of a large-scale group of perpetrators who besides being guilty of violent offences were also responsible for daily car thefts.
Statistics show a 19 per cent decrease in cases of ill-treatment with 110 cases reported this year against 137 last year.
Jacobs elaborated on the subject of the 14 murders. She said detectives had been able to solve four of these murders: crewmember Ludovic Guillevin, who was tortured and killed; Fiodel Louis, tortured and killed; Eduardo Nova Valdez, tortured and killed; and 13-year-old Tiffany Reid, whose body was burnt and whose father has been detained as the main suspect.
Investigations still ongoing are the fatal shootings of Emilio De Leon Reyes, Amador Jones, the Arrindell brothers Hector Miguel and Rodolfo, Eric Lake, Kevin Gumbs, Sheldon Thomas, whose killer fled the island, Anthony Whyte of St. Kitts, and, most recently, Guyanese businessman Mark Anthony Deygoo who was shot to death during a robbery of his Back Street store.
Jacobs noted that police conducted investigations within the possibility of the law: "Often people say everyone knows who did it but the police. In this sense the police know too who committed the crimes, but suspicion is not enough to detain people. That is why we call ourselves professionals, that is why we get training, and we believe training has to be a continuous process. We need theoretical foundation to do our job well, as well as material."
She said it took an estimated three months to carry out an investigation. In allocating investigators, five murder cases are being worked on by a joint investigation team TGO, a large team that functions under the responsibility of the police chief with a large capacity of the St. Maarten Police Force and added capacity of other Caribbean police forces (Bonaire, St. Eustatius, Saba, Aruba and Cura�ao) in the Kingdom, the Kingdom Detective Cooperation Team RST and the Dutch Marechaussees.
Another five murder cases are being investigated by the TGO, which means they are being handled as separate investigations, with an average of one to two detectives per murder case at the moment. However, 10 people are required to conduct an investigation well. The police are carrying out investigations with few resources, to the extent that the 208 violent offences are a heavy workload, because the Police Force does not have ample capacity.
"If another violent and tragic incident with the loss of life takes place, the only way this case could be dealt with is to have the police officers work overtime and even on their days off. That loyalty and passion still exists within our police officers, for which I am very grateful," said Police Chief Commissioner de Witte.
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