BY the end of this year, Police Commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher intends to reduce murders and violent crimes by 20 per cent, increase gun seizures by 15 per cent and improve the detection rate to 30 per cent.

Newsday received a copy of the top cop's violent-crime reduction plan that was recently sent to National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds. Hinds mentioned parts of the plan in Parliament on Wednesday.

While at the launch of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) Public Alert Notification System (PANS) system, Newsday overheard Harewood-Christopher complaining that the plan was leaked. Harewood-Christopher appeared upset while Hinds appeared shocked. The exchange took place at the end of the ceremony while attendees were mingling.

At a meeting of the Joint Select Committee (JSC) on National Security in March, Harewood-Christopher promised to reduce murders by June in the short term and by December in the long term. She did not quantify the reduction she hoped for at the time.

Using the murder toll of 605 last year, Harewood-Christopher's hope, as stated in the plan, is that the murder toll be reduced by 121 this year, which would amount to a total of 484 murders in 2023.

On Friday, police said the murder toll was 190 at the time.

At that rate there is an average of 47.5 murders each month.

Therefore, at its current trajectory, the murder toll at year's end will be 570 - less than last year's figure but much higher than the targeted reduction.

In the plan, under the heading: "Where are we now?" Harewood-Christopher said violent crimes, especially gun-related homicides had been increasing at a phenomenal rate which fuels widespread fear across society.

'The problem is built around gangs, guns and drugs. There must be a turnaround in 2023 to show a significant decrease in violence and improvements in safety.'

In order to make every place safe in the country, the top cop said, by the end of the year, the police hope to be progressing 'in a significant way' while enjoying an improved relationship between the police and the communities.

Achieving that would mean a 30 per cent detection rate for violent crimes and a reduction in serious crimes by 15 per cent.

At a symposium co-hosted by the UWI Trade and Development Unit and the Confederation of Regional Business Chambers on March 31, Harewood-Christopher detailed her ten-point plan to reduce crime and violence.

Her two-year plan, she said then, included precision policing, focusing the resources of the police to address violent crime, dismantling of gangs by using precision policing and legislation, targeting communities with high reports of crime and retrieval of illegal guns.

At the time, she said she would used available resources to focus on transnational crime - targeting gun and drug trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering and cybercrime.

'We will improve our efficiency and effectiveness by optimising our exi