Crime falling despite public perception
Police Commissioner David Baines and Chief Superintendent Kurt Walton
(CNS): While the public at large may perceive that crime is getting worse in Cayman, the statistics tell another story. Despite a serious spike in burglaries over the last few months, overall crime between 1 January and 30 June this year is down some 10% when compared to figures for the first six months of 2014. The most serious violent crimes, including armed robbery, rape, murder, aggravated burglary, assault and attempted murder, fell even more, with just 44 serious crimes reported compared to 59 during the same period last year, a 25% reduction.
“For the past several years crime across a number of categories has continued to fall, confirming what we already know, which is that Cayman is a safe place to live,” said Chief Superintendent Kurt Walton.
But the senior officer acknowledged that in the second quarter of 2015 there was a noticeable increase in burglary and attempted burglary. However, he said the police were responding and netted more than six dozen suspects in the first part of the year.
“The RCIPS has responded to the burglary problem with a steady pace of arrests,” Walton stated. “During the first six months we arrested 76 people, up 12% from arrests during the same period last year. Some of the individuals arrested are believed to be linked to several burglaries; in one case, for example, we believe the individual may be linked to as many as ten.”
He added, “Burglary continues to be a stubborn problem in our society that will require more than just prevention and enforcement to permanently reduce.”
While crime is on the decline, a trend reflect around the world in developed nations, the public’s demand for police services is on the rise. Although the police recorded 1,670 reported crimes during the first six months of this year, officers responded to nearly 14,000 calls for service from a figure that has climbed steadily in recent years, the RCIPS management revealed.
“The steady increase in calls for service demonstrates an increasing demand for policing … and that the public is relying on us more and more,” Walton added.
The crime figures revealed that during the first half of the year two people were murdered, compared to just one murder in 2014. In the first half of 2014 police dealt with what was believed to be a murder-suicide when Nichelle Anna-Kay Thomas was chopped to death by her boyfriend Devon Roy Campbell, who hanged himself shortly after the gruesome killing.
This year police were dealing with gang-related shootings. The two murder victims were Victor Oliver Yates and David Ebanks, who were both killed in January in West Bay. Neither case has been solved after a local man charged in the Yates case walked away from court when the crown’s witnesses all decline to testify.
The third murder victim of 2015 was Jason Powery, who was killed on 1 July in George Town and so will be counted when police reveal the overall crime figures at the end of this year.
Yeah,and I am getting younger as I age. Your perception of me is wrong.
Well done to the police who have to work in very difficult conditions given the rampant local corruption, criminality and the failure of local juries to convict.
Boss Hogg: Crime is down!
Sheriff Rosco: It sure is Boss!
Boss Hogg: Ummh, no it’s not stupid. I was just saying this for public consumption!
Sheriff Rosco: Oh, you mean like a trick?
Boss Hogg: That’s exactly it stupid! The more you say something the more people gonna believe it!
Sheriff Rosco: But Boss, didn’t you just say public perSpection isn’t all that important?
Boss Hogg: Of course it is you Thickhead! Just because I said it wasn’t doesn’t make it true.
Sheriff Rosco: You mean another trick, you wily old fox?
Boss Hogg: Oooooh yeaaaa!
Sheriff Hogg: Well whose gonna catch dem criminals when all we’re doing is sitting around and talking?
Sheriff Rosco: Criminals? What criminals?
As always, the RCIP’s public relations are hopelessly inadequate. They just don’t seem to care whether they are believed or not. Until they pay more attention to their credibility, their public meetings will continue to be a waste of time.
Gordon Barlow
As someone who in the past three months suffered two different break-ins at two different locations and more than $10000 worth of my stuff stolen – I FIND THIS REPORT F*&^$%# INSULTING!!..
Why? Why is the existence of two incidents affecting you relevant to overall crime levels which are falling? Or is it ALL about you?
The RCIPS only maintain statistics on a very select list of illegality. When no other enforcement of laws exists – outside of this list, it is very easy to look like a great job is being done. ie. Almost 400 officers and a complete absence of a traffic department, and serious unchecked political corruption…
Hold on , Hold on.
As an ex-policeman here I have a problem with what the COP and Walton have said.
Are they saying that the Publics perception is wrong?
Then all the crap they used to say about the Publics perception being the reason why they made the bad decisions they did is full of it. They always had a saying that the reason why they were doing something is BECAUSE the Publics perception.
So what they saying now is that the Publics perception is wrong and they ain’t gonna follow it?
They sound like they talking out of the place they use to sit on.
Typical though, I remember being in a meeting with them and they were discussing statistics and saying burglaries had dropped like 45%. Then they skipped a couple of stats and said thefts were down so much percentage. This was good, but I kept looking at what they skipped over and thinking these people aren’t real, are they?
The stats they skipped over was attempted burglaries. That was up something like 125%. So I thought to myself, of course burglaries went down. That’s because everyone locking their junk up. Doesn’t mean the criminals weren’t trying to get it though, they just couldn’t. It also showed an increase in crime overall in that area, even though it was only attempted.
Request ALL the stats. You’ll see the performance marker. On another note, when was the last time anyone seen a real bust with large amounts of drugs. I remember when almost every week you had one. Guess they stopped running drugs too. Or stopped enforcement. Wonder what happened, or is the Publics perception wrong again.
Being unclear exactly how the RCIPS’ statistics are collated and assessed, this announcement may or may not be factually accurate. Overall number of reported crimes may be down but RCIPS should never fail to monitor the variety of crimes being committed. While some types of crimes may be down, home invasions – a very serious crime – have increased.
RCIPS should take little comfort from their statistics if serious crimes have increased while “lesser” crimes have reduced.
Bottom line is, Baines & Co need not pat themselves on the back just yet.
CoP Baines, you are becoming the laughing stock of the Cayman Islands. This claim is absurd and only proves that, not only are you falling down on the job of community policing, but now even your “cream of the crop” buddies, in your air conditioned offices,
are not doing a damn thing for their paychecks.
Your office clowns are not even recording the crimes that are reported, obviously, and they are discouraging the public from reporting petty crime because the public know that RCIPS do not do diddley about petty crime ……. and they do not have the ability to do anything about serious crime.
One day of community policing in North Side Rum Point area and you are all over the media bragging about how many criminals you nabbed ………….. imagine if you had one officer doing this everyday………and one in East End……..and one in Bodden Town……… and one in George Town………..and one in West Bay………and one in Cayman Brac. Sorry bit as daft as you appear to be, I have to spell it out for you! How long now have Ezzard and Arden been shouting policing of their communities from the mountain top?
Baines, are you even aware that the word on the street is that the Jamaican underground no linger send their go fast boats (Jamaica dories) to Cayman full of ganja? They now come with 4 or 5 career criminal thieves that they drop off somewhere on a beach, then return in a week or 10 days to pick them up. Their instruction is to steal only gold jewelry and money from homes and businesses because they know that RCIPS do not take these isolated crimes seriously………..nor it appears even records them any more in their statistics……… no worries about immigration ……… no worries about police.
They live with friends, operate at nights and lay low during the day, until the boat comes back to pick them up with their bag of loot. Even if they are stopped on the high sees …….. no drugs on board ……….. no worries! Wearing expensive gold watches, chains, bracelets, rings, diamond earrings etc. while fishing is still legal!
Sad to say Baines but even the common criminal appears to be smarter than you. By the way, don’t spend any of that $30million on trying to find out who I am and to hunt me down because ” I seem to know what the criminals are doing so I must be involved with their enterprise”.
Simply send your statistics gathering staff into the streets with some community policing and you will be able to gather this intelligence yourself instead of your usual MO of getting in the press and asking the public to come to the Police Station to report what is actually happening in their community …………..go to the public………… community policing ……… every day ………..all the time.
Madam Governor, Baines falls under you………. call him to Governor’s House and tell him to “buck up”…………please………….pretty please.
He is an embarrassment to Her Majesty!
What about the surge in man boy love, beastiality and baby skull crushing reported by Mr Eden?
It keeps on amazing me how far RCIP can continue to stick its head up its own you-know-where! No, crime is not down – the numbers of reports are down due to lack of RCIP ability to deal with reported crime. Those are two different things!
Cayman Airways recently declared they made a massive profit too. Statistics can be manipulated in many ways. It is a fine line between statistics and lies. In my street alone two burglaries have gone unreported. The victims simply have no confidence in the Royal Clown in Police Suits. Moreover it is well reported that the police prosecution rate is low, further fuelling the criminal world to commit crime.
Couldn’t have said it better dear. ALOT of crime goes unreported, specifically incidents that involve officers being attacked, their cars set on fire etc. These go without being reported; why? Because the cops are now afraid of these lil punks with their unlicensed guns etc. So instead of the RCIPS feeding us a bunch of tripe please speak the truth. Leave the lying up to the politicians, they are ace at that!
“There are lies, damn lies and then there are statistics”
C’Mon Maaaaan anybody who has been subjected to a crime and dealing with the police knows Gold Command is talking rubbish just to hear the sound of their own BS. The RCIPS have an annual budget of over CI$30m per annum yet crime is on the rise and the lawless continues by the day.
Just another day in Absurdistan
These figures should be considered in the context of – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30081682
It reveals that around 20% of reported crime in the UK is simply not being recorded by the police.
I’d guess that Baines is just copying the tactics of his former colleagues in the UK and allowing RCIPS officers to determine what is, and is not, recorded as a crime.
Why do they try to pull the wool over our eyes repeatedly, year after year like this? We don’t care what the statistics say, we care about how safe it FEELS to live in Cayman. And with each year it feels less and less safe. You need to concentrate on the public’s perception of crime not statistics. In any event, any statistic is only as good as the info behind it, and as many crimes go unreported and unsolved, or reported but not followed up and logged by the police, statistics ultimately mean nothing at all in any event.
They are NOT giving us REAL stats! Simple.
Do you think we are that stupid to believe crime has dropped. Its just that less is being reported.
Denial is not just a river in Egypt. People don’t report half the crimes committed because the RCIPS and its leadership is useless
Crime is down because we simply have more criminals in our Government than we have on our streets. This man is no police commissioner but he is a fully ordained UK Wizard who’s magical crime statistics defy reason and good commonsense . His expert hypnotic techniques is able confuse and dumfound our looney tune officials everytime. His excellent wizardry defies reality and his ability to twist or distract the public’s perception is simply mind boggling . Did i miss anything Here’s to you Baines simply magical!!
Take it up with the Governor dear, the Governor appoints the Commissioner of police for these Cayman Islands.