2024 crime up 7% but 43% detection rate revealed
(CNS): The RCIPS battled an increase in crime in 2024, but even with significant staff retention problems, the police achieved an impressive clean-up rate, statistics show. In the latest annual Crime and Traffic Statistics Report, the RCIPS has included detection levels across all crime categories for the first time, allowing the community to judge how well the police are using public resources to solve crime.
Close to half of all crimes in 2024 were solved, and another 20% remain under active investigation, which means the RCIPS is starting this new reporting with what officials said was a world-class detection rate.
With the population increasing, the crime rate going up and traffic issues diverting resources, 2024 proved a difficult year for the RCIPS. But the police are finally able to tell the public how well they are doing at catching the criminals.
Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday to launch the 2024 statistics report, Police Commissioner Kurt Walton noted that the overall detection rate for last year was 43%. However, with 20% of total crimes still under active investigation, he was confident that this figure would increase as those investigations progress throughout this year, and he is already challenging the service to aim for solving at least half of all crimes next year.
Detective Superintendent Peter Lansdown explained that the rate is already one of the best in the world. He said the RCIPS had worked on a robust policy based on the UK system to define detection, and while it’s not always easy to compare like for like when it comes to solving crime, no other jurisdiction using the same system has a better rate, and it’s going to get even better.
Lansdown also explained that while the definition of detected is complicated, a crime is generally considered cleaned up for police when the suspect is either charged and appears in court or a caution is issued. However, there are other circumstances when a crime can be considered resolved.
The crimes that are not solved or still active and considered ‘case closed’ could still be reopened. But the senior officer explained that they are generally crimes, such as acquisitive crime, that the police cannot resolve for lack of evidence, for example, a car break-in. They could also be part of a series of burglaries committed by the same person who has been charged with three out of possibly ten break-ins that police believe they could have committed.
“It’s very, very complicated,” Lansdown said. He explained that the RCIPS policy for detection is based on the Home Office Counting Rules, which is a 100-page tome of policies and practices and provides for some 17 different ways of saying a crime is detected.
“We’ve reduced that down to about 30 pages. It’s still very complex, and we’ve had challenges breaking it out across every department of RCIPS… I’m pleased this year everybody is on the same page, everybody’s adhering to the same policy, and we can publish ethically sound, robust crime detection standards,” he added.
Lansdown also said that some crimes are more “solvable” than others. Different crime types have different solvability factors, so detection rates vary across crime categories. Domestic violence is obviously easier, and last year, 58% were detected, but that crime comes with its own challenges, as often the victims don’t want to give evidence against their partners.
In some areas, the detection rate is even higher. For example, Walton said that over the last five years, the RCIPS has recorded a 75% detection rate for murder. But random acquisitive crimes can be much harder, as can robberies, gun crime and burglaries.
But Lansdown noted that burglary detection rates in the UK are as low as 1%, so the 28% detection rate here in Cayman for break-ins is still really impressive.
While the police are working hard to get offenders in court, there are obstacles, such as a growing population and more crime. There are also increasing challenges on the roads, with more than 65,000 registered vehicles, many of which are being driven very badly, according to Walton. The RCIPS has also had real difficulties retaining staff, largely because of low pay and long hours.
Crime increased by 7% overall in 2024, but sexual offences were up by 21% and serious violence increased by 68%. However, violent crime in general decreased by about 3%, and firearms offences and gun-enabled crime also fell by around 20%.
Drug crime grew by 26%, but the detection rates are some of the highest of all solved crimes at 76%. Technology is changing everyone’s lives, including those of criminals, and the use of ICT to commit fraud and abuse is on the rise, and broader digital crime is steadily growing.
Walton said that in 2024, the RCIPS responded to 34,934 incidents, but just 4,218 were crimes. Police made 2,398 arrests, took 15 guns off the street and seized over CI$3 million worth of drugs, in what Walton described as a challenging year.
In February last year, there was the unprecedented mass shooting at the Ed Bush stadium in West Bay, in which seven people were shot, which the commissioner described as a watershed moment for the Cayman Islands.
While no one has been charged in that case yet, Walton said the suspects involved are currently in jail as they have been charged with other offences. Gang tensions were a major issue last year. While much work has been done to get guns off the streets and round up those causing the problems, the issue is not fully resolved, and it is one of many priorities on the RCIPS agenda.
Check back to CNS this week for more stories on the traffic chaos, the roll out of technology, community policing, RCIPS retention problems and the ever-growing demands on police resources.
See the full statistical report below and in the CNS library.
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Did everyone forget about the Horse rape incidents from a few years ago?? Don’t hear anyone talking about that horrendous crime, and it makes me shudder thinking people who could do that roam freely in our streets.
https://caymannewsservice.com/2016/08/riding-pony-dies-after-sexual-assault/comment-page-1/
True. still working with public
One main thing overlooked and praised by the RCIPS is slow driving. Perfect opportunity to pull a vehicle over and make check and inquiries. Slow drivers are usually impaired by alcohol, illegal drugs or medication, or the vehicle is not road worthy and not safe to drive at the posted speed limit. Lowering the speed limit will not help the RCIPS and looks like a tactic to appear like they are doing something while doing NOTHING.
Actually, the move to lower speed limits came from parliament because there are too many hit and runs.
Now they will hit and run, but slower
Less interested in the rate of ‘detection’ than I am in their rate of successful convictions AND the rate those successful convictions are upheld convictions after various appeals.
Especially as someone who got a firsthand look at the RCIPS’ process / standards while sitting as a member of a local murder trial jury, from my experience and from what I gather reading summaries of local criminal cases it appears the RCIPS can often locate an individual or suspect via testimony or rumours but struggle to do the relevant evidence gathering / investigative work to actually prove the case to jury that can be ‘satisfied so that they are sure’ of the facts presented.
Anyone checking the “fishing boats” illegally operating from residential lots yet?
How about if immigration together with the police would start to round up all the buy a work permit workers who are running all over Cayman and send them off the island? This is a very serious problem which no one in authority wants to address because if this source of illegal labor is dried up, then all these big money developers coming in would loose their huge source of labor. Trade & business license needs to stop giving every Tom, Dick & Harry business licenses because these people are just running buy work permit operations, then telling the wp holder to go find a job. Now if these people can not get enough money by working legitimately, then they usually turn to some other source of getting income which most likely would involve crime. Years ago when employers followed the law, the crime & reckless driving situation was not like this. Something needs to change as it is way out of hand now. Stop turning Cayman into little Kingston or little Manila, enough is enough.
AGREEEEEEDDDDDDDDD – to many sham businesses with permit holders with NO WORK!
They won’t as that a Caymankind issue
CNS—The fifth-to-last word in the first paragraph should read “public”.
CNS: Oops! Thanks!
Stats only show what you’ve caught not what is actually happening, especially when I comes to drugs and traffic offenses.
Traffic for instance, I drive frequently to SMB around 6:30/7 from Prospect, since the beginning of the year I haven’t seen ‘one’ police car, I do see a sh.. Load of Fits speeding, driving reckless.
What I would like stats on Mr Commissioner ( who is the weakest we’ve had in my life time 70+yrs,even weaker than Mr Braggs)is all the accidents on island, vehicle make, colour, gender, age and yes who’s was under the influence. Of course he won’t release these as it would so we have sh.. Drivers and not that many DUI accident.
Now onto drugs, those stats are so out of whack, are thee police officers dumb. You know who does most of the coke on island, expats in the financial and tourism industry. I know of a young man who went to a house party in a very wealthy neighborhood, when he got there, there was coke laying on the table to use and joints ready to smoke.
Mr commissioner, I honestly don’t know how you got the job, I was proad when I heard you did as you were the 2nd Caymanian commissioner but you’ve been an extremely weak one and now wish they’d got an English one again. Maybe it’s time you retire.
Finally stop talking about stats, get on with the job, we don’t feel safe anymore on the roads, homes and even just when walking, we don’t trust your officers,alot of them don’t have respect as those in the past especially the good officers in the 1990’s who have all left. Maybe you should get some of those English officers back to train your officers how to have manners for a few years.
I’ve been reading all these posts for years now, and finally have had enough, so my first post is this.
Did the young man you know that went to the party immediately report what he saw or did he partake? Remember it starts with the person you see in the mirror to do the right thing.
The big law offices have a “powder” issue, too…
“Battled” is a strange adjective to apply to an invisible police force. The Home Affairs Minister should ask the Governor to put the Chief or Police on performance notice: 6 months to materially step up enforcement management, or be discharged to retirement. The RCIPS culture of non-performance has turned this important public service agency into champagne-fueled statisticians instead of serving crime-fighters. So much unsolved crime – much of it dismissed improperly as “accidental”. Every stakeholder in the Cayman Islands would prefer that crime be non-existent, rather than “stabilized” to some statistical level of plausible non-performance the chief of police thinks they can get away with – and continue to hold their 6-figure managerial posts. Traffic stops with ticket writing are an indispensable proof that the police are willing to apply our Gazetted laws – and not just for a few weeks around Christmas.
Don’t be ridiculous. Those stats make no sense. Almost half of all crimes were solved? I cannot fathom that because we all know, often personally, that we report crimes and never hear anything back from the police.
All the stuff that gets stolen? All the people who get exploited or scammed? All the people here illegally and employed by people who are immune to prosecution? All those who do not get their pension money paid in my theiving employers? All those who don’t get their deposit back from bad landlords?
The list just goes on and on of the ways we are constantly victims of ‘small crimes’ that are never solved.
This just shows the reason why statistics and anecdotes are not comparable.
Also, the article itself addresses that the detection rates are much lower for acquisitive crime (hint, that means when things get stolen).
The reason why drug crime is up and as Walton Admitted himself “a challenging year” falls to one main reason.
The FAILURE of thd Coast Guard.
Its a known FACT that the majority of illegal guns and drugs to these ISLANDS cones via CANOE from Jamaica.
Since the inception of the CICG and the hiring of inept Commanders, who HAD NO MARITIME EXPERIENCE besides being LODGE members, and the KNOWN fact that the experienced personell, who were actially making multiple interdictions a month left the unit because of the inept installment of these persons, led to the dysfuntional operation of the CICG.
Currently, since the inception of the CICG, the unit has made only a couple of interdictions (mostly canoes found on the beaches) and still do not conduct routine patrols….
The management NEEDS to change ASAP. The experienced personell who left need to return.
ANYTHING short of this will cause the unit to continue to be the JOKE OF THE WEEK….abd the continuation of even more contraband to enter the Islabds and cause more crimes…. The are FACTS…. NOBODY can prove them wrong, they can only deflect with Bullshit…
ALSO, in the lack of proper monitoring and detection equipment it is OBVIOUSS that there is an implicit reason for the lack of adequate POLICING. Better for me to go open a COAT Factory than to expect betta
What a load of crap. Self-agrandising at its best.
When’s the last time they had a speed trap between 12 and 6am when most road deaths happen from Thursday to Sunday night? Never ever ever. Didn’t they hire a crime analyst to tell them these things?
High turn over is because you pay crap so you get crap. Get rid of the Jamaicans…they make the worst cops..they can barely read and write ffs.
Increase pay and lower the number of cops. As well…don’t be so heavily dependent on the Brits…look at the Governor, she’s a waste of her own pasty skin.
It’s time an effective authority be set up or put in place to remove the wanted and convicted criminals and murders that are here roaming around on this island. It’s also time to remove those brought here and paid by our government also who are obstructing and frustrating preventing us from doing so.They certainly are doing this deportation process in their own countries why is it they here talking about setting up courts and judges to waste our money Which appears to be an attempt to willfully ruin ours with their Bull$#@%
RCIPS can do but try .
I am told by the police that prison is no longer a deterrent, and a few even welcome the opportunity for free board and lodging offered by Northward.
The planned new resort will be even more inviting and be an even less of a deterrent.
Prison will never be a deterrent no matter how bad you make it. Do some research and you will quickly find that out.
Especially if it’s a holiday camp. As planned.
@1:10 pm We are not in compliance with best practice standards when it comes to our prison. Please research that. Cayman does not exist in a vacuum; there are international expectations to be met.
At a cost of $200Million…?
Plus ongoing expense of a hundred or more imported “guards” and their families..?
Do best practice standards require us to go into bankruptcy?
Just take the $8Million being charged by consultants to upgrade the areas most in need.
Research, based on common sense and experience.
When we didn’t have a prison, convicts were sent to serve in Jamaican prisons.
Believe me, NOBODY wanted to go to prison , which was a major deterrent.
Catered holiday camp = No deterrent.
I’d rather it be a resort than be so overcrowded that persons are constantly let out early.
Just like any other resort, if it’s not a nice place , nobody will want to go there.
The clear up rate is due to 2 main factors the sheer size of Cayman and the amount of police we have per capita one of the highest certainly in world for the population and for this region .Because their is certainly no trust or confidence nor effectiveness in how these foreign police do their jobs that’s for sure not to mention the amount of money they suck up from this islands budget that is another world record figure.Yet we have unsolved crime and murders and rampant drug trafficking so many guns they keep stumbling over them at various venues and homes and criminal situations. .There is absolutely NO system in place to stop or protect our borders or to stop convicted criminals getting legal work permits or using false documents to get into our island NONE whatsoever and when here there is absolutely nothing to effectively remove or deport them from our shore In fact we are spending copious of money Importing garbage here to advise us that these criminals have some indomitable right to remain here to continue to commit brutal and horrendous crimes against children women and our society!
Sir. Do victims and witnesses still have to PAY for copies of their own statements and incident reports?!
Woww
Did I really hear Commish say the words “pride / confidence” in our police officers?
Speak for yourself sir.
It’s far from that in our communities and streets.
We need to get more Caymanians employed. Remember the saying about idle hands? When people are earning a decent living, they look for ways to improve their life; in contrast, when someone is unemployed and has no hope, no prospects, they get depressed, desperate, despondent. Those with status or on a work permit who are found guilty of crimes that carry a sentence longer than a year (for example) could be deported. Our prison is overcrowded and our tax dollars should be used wisely. Sorry if it sounds extreme, but we are too small to sustain 100,000 souls.
Get rid of all these Jamaican police. They always turn a blind eye to their brethren.
I’d like to see a list of the five most expensive Government departments. I’ll wager they are also the five least effective departments. That’s where the real crime is.
The roads are lawless. End of.
Yesterday, by Country and Western some absolute moron heading east in a white Ford F250/350 was tailgating vehicles, swerving from lane to lane, and speeding. All this on a wet surface. It was a miracle he didn’t cause a pile-up. There’s one incident of dangerous driving that had no legal repercussions. These incidents people see on almost every journey. So, their perception of the police doesn’t match with some of the glowing comments above.
Most people here will have no interaction with the police in any given year, but all road users see the carnage and the inability of the police to bring it under control. Fix the roads, and many other areas will be better. You’ll catch more burglars, thieves, drug dealers, drink drivers, unlicensed drivers etc.
I generally have little fear of robbery or a break in, but the roads… what a mess.
Any detection of the 2,850 Cabinet status grants in 2003, or are they exempt from investigation? Should be fairly easy to determine who had been here for less than a few years and had no obvious legitimate basis for a grant. Then you could ask questions and follow the money. The records all exist. They are often in plain sight.
And while you’re at it, check a few of the grants by cabinet.