IN under 300 days, Trinidad and Tobago has recorded over 500 murders – a staggering and grim reality.

There are many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean whose yearly murder tolls do not even compare.

In 2023, TT, which has a population of 1.5 million people, recorded 577 murders.

El Salvador which has a population of 6.4 million people, saw 154 murders in 2023, while Panama with a population of 4.4 million saw 508 murders.

Puerto Rico, a territory of the Caribbean, has a population of 3.2 million people and saw 464 murders.

In the smaller islands of the Caribbean, St Kitts, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Turks and Caicos Islands, St Lucia, Guyana and the Bahamas combined for 450 murders.

These six countries have a total population of roughly 1.6 million people – roughly 100,000 more people and 127 less murders.

Trending to 635

TT's 500th murder was recorded October 15, when Mark Alexander, 29, was gunned down in Quarry Road, San Juan.

Police inquiries revealed around 1 pm, Alexander was standing on Quarry Road, San Juan waiting for his son to return home from school when a gunman approached and shot at him multiple times.

Police said around 1.30 pm on October 15 they responded to the gunshots.

They found Alexander bleeding from his head and arms and a neighbour took him to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex.

Alexander received treatment, but later died. Crime scene investigators found 12 .9mm spent shells at the scene.

Early on the morning of October 16, a 63-year-old man was killed in a suspected house-breaking, taking the murder toll to 501.

The dead man was identified as Ronald Ramjag.

Police said around 3.20 am on October 16, a man at Maracas Royal Road was awoken by barking dogs.

He saw three men in dark clothing holding Ramjag inside his home. The man locked himself inside his bedroom and contacted the police. The men tried but failed to break open his bedroom door.

The man climbed through his bedroom window and hid while the three intruders escaped.

In August the country saw its bloodiest month for 2024, with 68 murders being recorded – two more than July, which had 66.

August tied for the second bloodiest month in TT's history with August 2022.

In November 2021 there were 69 murders – the all-time record.

The monthly murder toll has been 60 or more ten times in the past: in January and May of 2018 (60 each); July 2019 (60); November 2021 (69); July (65), August (68) and October (66) of 2022; and in January, (61), July (66) and August (68) of 2024.

In 2023, the murder toll crossed 500 during November – one month later than this year's 500 mark.

Based on Newsday's calculations from January-September, the country averages 53 murders per month.

If the trend continues at the same rate, it will take the country's year-end murder toll to 635.

The murder toll as at October 19 was 505.

Detection rate under 10 per cent

On July 14, Commissioner of Police (CoP) Erla Harewood-Christopher said she aimed to reduce homicides by ten per cent and achiev