'We're going to see a spike in crime this year'- CoP Matthews
Some 172 curfew violations have been recorded as of May 1, 2020.
"When we get to the end of this calendar year and I have to report to the government and to the people on crime... we're actually going to add, at least now, 172 additional offences onto our books, that if this curfew hasn't happened, if this COVID-19 hadn't happened, we wouldn't be registering," CoP Matthews said on the Friday, May 8, 2020, edition of Honestly Speaking on ZBVI 780 AM.
According to the Police Commissioner, the context of that will spike the crime rates in the territory.
"I've even suggested to the National Security Council, perhaps we should when we publish our data, keep that separate so that people aren't misled by the figures because otherwise what you're gonna see is a steep rise in crime recorded."
He said people would belive the crime rates has spiralled out of control, 'reality is, we have a duty to record every single offence of break of curfew, each one obviously has a different outcome," Mr Matthews said.
Effects on Tourism
The Police Commissioner also noted that the spike in figures could potentially affect VI's tourism product on the road to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, with the opening of borders and return of cruise ships.
"What we don't want... is the first things that the tourists look at... isn't that place where crime went through the roof last summer? So I think the context [must be] absolutely clear."
Mr Matthews said the spike may also affect perceptions of what the security situation is in the VI and a spike that isn't explained properly or is out of context could paint an inaccurate picture.
"The more we talk about it, the more I think that we got to find a way to publish that as a separate figure on our data at the end of this year," Mr Matthews said.
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15 Responses to “'We're going to see a spike in crime this year'- CoP Matthews”
not only did crime went up
the number of unsolved went up
we hear no crime fighting plan from Mike
Mike relying on informers to solve crimes
should talk about the amount of their people allowed to break the curfew and the local man arrested
The RVIPF was tasked with enforcing the curfew. And though enforcing the curfew is important, it seems as if the RVIPF employed a strictly legalistic approach to enforce the curfew, i.e., enforce the letter of the law with no discretion. Police officers employ much discretion in performing their attaining conformance with the law.
Moreover, no doubt, the intent was to attain conformance with the curfew. If the violators were out committing serious crime(s), ie, burglary……etc, they no doubt should be arrested and charged with a)violating curfew and b)burglary. On the other hand, if violators were just out and about, they could have been issued a written warning and directed to go home. Repeat offenders arrested and charged.
Undoubtedly, a low crime rate is in the best interest of the quality of life and standard of living of the community, a key decision driver for investors, a key metric for tourism industry ….etc. Nonetheless, IMO, it seems as if there is more concern about the numbers than the human factor. The concern and worry about curfew violations driving up the crime rate seems to portray a ticket punching concern for the next gig perhaps. This may be a case of just a job and perhaps no serious connection to the territory, the community. Is there something worrisome about caring more about numbers than the care for human factor?
Further, if the unemployment rate persist, there could be dark cloud on the horizon. Persistent unemployment results in an increase of violent and property crime. Extended unemployment can wipe out family savings, increase debt, leads to health and psychological problems, family violence issues, increase in divorce and children abandonment. These issues should also concern the Comish.
banana, illustrates that this man, Matthews, is mentally ill and should be confined himself. these and other
reasons are why Americans carry guns. Good night.