Police report decline in NYE crime and crashes
(CNS): The RCIPS reported a decrease in serious incidents over the holidays this year compared to the same period last year, and although one person was killed on the road during the first week of the year, there were no traffic deaths over the New Year weekend, as drivers found other ways to get home rather than drinking and driving.
Courtney Oneil Bennett (43), from Bodden Town, was killed in the early morning hours of 6 January, on the Esterley Tibbetts Highway, and a woman injured in the same crash remains in hospital.
Although police attended 15 crashes over the holiday weekend, most were not serious. Nevertheless, they expressed concern about the number of drivers involved in collisions who left the scene.
Inspector Jones, the head of the traffic unit, said that the high number of prosecutions during the first weekend of December had suggested that Cayman was on track to follow the trend of previous years. However, during the weekends that followed the number of prosecutions dropped and overall there were fewer serious traffic incidents than previous years.
He said that even though the figures indicated a move in the right direction, there was a serious collision in the first week of the new year, on Monday, 3 January, which resulted in three people being taken to hospital, one of whom is still in critical condition. This was followed by a fatality on Thursday, “where a man succumbed to his injuries and a women remains in critical condition in hospital”.
New Year’s Eve weekend prosecutions included 15 speeding tickets, three DUIs, one disqualified driver, 19 expired registration, 20 tint and six cell phone tickets.
“We have also seen an increase in hit-and-run incidents on the road, which is concerning. Not only is it highly irresponsible to leave the scene of an incident, particularly if people are injured, but there can be serious consequences if you are found to have ‘hit and run’,” Jones added.
As well as the road safety campaign, Winter Guardian, which operated from 1 December through 4 January, the police focused on keeping the community safe over the busy festive season and crime numbers down with increased police presence in specific areas and policing at night. Officers responded to several burglaries over the festive season, most of them at commercial premises.
“This is something we are not surprised to see at this time of year, as opportunistic thieves target establishments after busy festive season events and activities,” said Acting Superintendent Brad Ebanks. “For this reason we strongly encourage premises to remove any large sums of cash each night, ensure all windows and doors are securely locked, and ensure you have working CCTV running inside and outside your premises.”
No incidents involving firearms were reported over the holidays but there were several stabbings. Ebanks said that more often than not, these incidents take place between people who have had too much to drink.
“We want to remind the public that carrying an offensive weapon, such as a machete or knife, is an offence,” Ebanks said, noting that what can start off as a disagreement “can quickly escalate when weapons are introduced, and the result can have devastating effects, whether it be life-threatening injuries or a deadly confrontation”.
While police don’t report the large number of domestic incidents they attend, Chief Inspector Malcolm Kay said the holidays can be a real struggle for some people and domestic calls increase as a result of these pressures.
“Abuse and violence in the home is not acceptable, particularly when children are involved,” he said. “We encourage anyone dealing with abuse in the home to tell someone you trust and seek help from the many services within the community that can support you, including the police.”
CI Kay added that anyone who is in fear of their own or their children’s safety, should call 911 immediately.
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Category: Crime, Crime Prevention
Well if you unnecessarily lock up 5000 or so people against their will, this was always going to be the case.
Other than Inspector Jones and Acting Superintendent Brad Ebanks (is he on loan?), how many full-time/overtime booking RCIPS employees have now been tasked to the Traffic Department and what are their career performance expectations in the 11 month off-season from January 4th to December, every year? Where are they re-assigned to, and why?
“This is something we are not surprised to see at this time of year”…therefore, what is the proportionate response from RCIPS? Good grief. 400+ full-time officers on the payroll.
“If a tree falls in the forest…”
…a bear shat in the woods?
Bring in the RCMP or some Australian Coppers. I can guarantee that traffic related citations would rise dramatically in 3 months and plummet when the Muppets who are over tinted , speeding driving while disqualified , driving while intoxicated etc realize that these guys are serious and oh…they are not related to the above mentioned Muppets.
10 @ 10:01 pm – the myth that every policeman in Cayman is related to someone in the population is just that, a myth, and it has long been debunked. I’m a baby-boomer Caymanian and racked up quite a few speeding tickets in my youth. I was never related to any cop and those whom I knew never gave me a break!
These days, RCIPS is made up primarily of officers from other countries – few local relatives!
There are a few reasons why RCIPS is too lax but family connections is not one!
Australian Coppers….lol.
The incompetence of the police force in Cayman is a national disgrace. And underfunding and understaffing cannot be blamed for the sad state of affairs.
There are some good officers in the force for sure. But something has gone badly wrong at the top. There needs to be a major shake up and certain heads should roll!
12:14pm at the bottom – spot on!
Just one road fatality and a serious assault on a female jogger. Great start RCIP.
Since things are so quiet, do you think you might finally open an investigation into corruption surrounding the most egregious status grants? Also, there is a small matter of over a thousand instances of stolen pension monies you are yet to take any action on. The evidence is all clear and in forms part of governments own records.
And a hate related felony assault at a location which is known for trouble.
Is it too much to ask for police presence at hotspots? This force has demonstrated no forward thinking.
Ooops. Left out what appears to be a serious hate crime. Any chance of any descriptions of perpetrators? CCTV footage from all those cameras you had us pay for? Did we forget to pay you extra to monitor it?
I have literally seen zero police on the road doing checks in the last 3 months. It always boils down to a lack of accountability in this jurisdiction. Someone is not holding someone who is not holding someone accountable and that persons boss has no business managing people and they got that position because of who they know not what they know. It’s very simple; every police dept in the world except this one has quotas for violations. People are afraid to discipline PO’s because they won’t be able to put another ass in the seat which is getting worse seeing as permits are backed up over 6 months. Change the right to discriminate in the constitution or this will go unchanged
Agreed I did not see 1 and we live on NWP Road…if there is ever a spot check that should be set up it is just past the Kimpton…3 times a week on random days. And don’t forget to check the geniuses that park on the overpass and walk….they did not run out of gas. If local law enforcement really wanted to tackle this issue they would…
“New Year’s Eve weekend prosecutions included 15 speeding tickets, three DUIs, one disqualified driver, 19 expired registration, 20 tint and six cell phone tickets.” So, statistically, drunk driving is the least of our worries on the road. Dear Parliamentarians, do not get distracted with talk about lowering the drink-driving limit and instead get the police to focus on the larger number of bad driving (speeding, etc.) issues (and you focus on a proper public transport system) if you want to be most effective at making things better on the roads.
These are reported accidents. I’d love to know how many there really are. Those little fender benders that go under the radar. The driving standards here are truly abysmal.
A properly equipped and trained traffic department could absolutely drag this island into some semblance of lawfulness.
In the UK, without resorting to number plate swapping, you’re liable to be stopped or photographed in a car that shouldn’t be on the road at any moment. If we had just a fraction of that threat, it would work wonders.
you’d also have half of the unskilled workers without transportation and be unable to get to your house to clean
D*****d. I don’t have anyone do my cleaning for me. But, you’re suggesting that as long as unskilled workers can drive around illegally, everything’s just fine.
Wait until one of these muppets without insurance prangs into your car/house/family member. We’ll then see how benevolent you are.
If you want to drive here, you have to factor in all the costs to run a vehicle. If not, use buses, bicycle, scooters etc. Many manage just fine.
I was so drunk I took the bus home. My only problem was when I woke up, I couldn’t remember where I should return it to.
12.53pm Do you by any chance live in West Bay and wear an outfit that looks like it was borrowed from an African dictator?.
I believe this is more due to less people going out than it is to any action by the police.
They continue to be reactive and out of sight.
They fall far below my expectations and I don’t believe this chief of police is up to the task.
A global pandemic eventually does something the police here dont seem to want to do!