NATIONAL Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds says a special team has been designated to respond to home invasions across the country.
Speaking in the Senate on Tuesday, he revealed there had been an increase in home invasions in some communities from February-May when compared to the same period in 2022.
These communities include Cunupia, which moved from five in 2022 to 12 in 2023, St Joseph, which moved from nine to 11 and Barataria, which rose from nine to ten.
However, Hinds said the total home invasions across the country for this same period actually decreased.
In 2022, it was at 185 but this year, the total is 145.
Hinds added that despite this decrease, the government knows that statistic "gives no comfort to the victims of this very heinous and horrible crime and the experiences that they suffer as a consequence of it."
He said the police remains"very concerned" about home invasions and have undertaken measures "to address this serious problem."
He said the special team consists of intelligence officers, CID personnel and analysts.
"Efforts are well under way to enhance their training and bolster the equipment and other resources that they need."
Hinds added that serious crimes over the last six months have decreased by ten per cent when compared to 2022.
But he noted that there was an increase in murders, larceny of motor vehicles and narcotic offences. Murders increased from 257 to 280, larceny of motor vehicles moved from 457 to 477 and narcotic offences from 166 to 192.
He also gave statistics for the other serious crimes, which decreased.
He listed: Woundings and shootings (372 to 307), rape, incest and other sexual offences (422 to 389), serious indecency (21 to nine), kidnapping (59 to 50), kidnapping for ransom (two to zero) burglaries and break-ins (862 to 712), robberies (1,189 to 1,151), fraud offences (228 to 275), general larceny (1,060 to 872), larceny from dwelling houses (79 to 43) and possession of firearms and ammunition (597 to 507).
All other serious crimes, he said, decreased from 606 to 582.
Despite the three increases, he said there has been a "general decrease in serious crimes," adding that there was a total of 6,377 serious crimes between December 2021 and May 2022, compared to a total of 5,796 from December 2022-May 2023.
Hinds said the increase in murders is linked to an increase in the prevalence of assault weapons, as well as increased criminal gang activity.
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