With four more weeks before the close of the year, the country has recorded 557 murders, the highest ever but police say there is an uptick in the number of cases being "solved."
On November 16, when Sunday Newsday spoke with Snr Supt Rishi Singh, head of the Homicide Bureau of Investigations, the murder toll was 535.
But by December 3, that figure had increased to 557. In 2021, there were 419 recorded murders for the same period. In 2008 the country recorded 550 murders, a new record, surpassing the 2019 toll of 539 murders.
The police are promising they will be “pushing back.”
Leave for officers have been restricted as part of that pushback; officers from specialised units will be used to augment the manpower needed for increased patrols.
In addition, 110 officers who graduated in November and special reserve police will also be used to boost patrols. This, along with the delivery of additional vehicles, is part of the plan to stymie murders.
Tackling the problem
For Singh and his team, training has been increased, which he said will be helpful in solving murders.
“Our strategies, though not necessarily new, are aimed at the utilisation of all available evidence and procedures in the modern environment geared towards increasing effectiveness and efficiency.
“In the quest to keep updated with the best practices the police has benefited from international partners like the US, France, South Korea and others in investigative and technical training.”
[caption id="attachment_989115" align="alignnone" width="768"] Snr Supt Rishi Singh of the Homicide Bureau. - Darren Bahaw[/caption]
Singh said from the unit’s initial examinations, the probable cause for the high murders in 2008, 2019 and 2022 remains gang activities and the ease of getting hold of guns.
With this knowledge, Jacob partnered with tertiary institutions with a view to having criminologists, statisticians, economists and other professionals research what triggered the high murder rate. This research, he said, will guide police interventions.
“This partnership is not only to establish the identification of the psychosocial issues in identifying root causes, but also to treat with the issue of the wider society response. A cursory examination of our records show that the chief similarity is firearm use in gang-related activity.”
Singh said while the similarities in the three years are gangs and guns, what makes 2022 different is the number of multiple killings per incident. As at November 29, there had been 36 double murders, four triple murders and two quadruple murders. Singh said the increase in the migrant population has added to the criminal activities – with migrants being both victims and perpetrators.
“Our records demonstrate that progressively more migrants feature as victims and suspects in crimes generally. Up to today we have 21 foreign nationals listed as victims of homicides.
"It is reasonable to suggest from this that the movement of groups of people carries with it the attendant issues which impact human behav
