98 murders recorded; 10% increase in crime
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The crime situation in Guyana is increasing on a daily basis and this has been supported by statistics released by the Guyana Police Force on Friday, August 14, which detailed that there has been a 10% increase in serious crimes in comparison to the same period in 2014.
According to the police statistics, a total of 94 murders were recorded at the end of July 2015 in comparison to 80 murders at the end of July 2014, an increase of 18%.
At the end of August 13, 2015, four more murders were recorded, bringing the total to 98. Among the serious crimes policed by the Force are murder, robbery under arms, robbery with violence, robbery with aggravation, larceny from the person, break and enter and larceny, burglary, rape, and kidnapping.
It was noted that at the end of July 2015, robbery under arms overall has decreased by 2% in comparison to the same period in 2014. The statistics indicate a decrease of 4% in the number of armed robberies involving the use of firearms; while the number of armed robberies where instruments other than firearms were used by the perpetrators has increased by 3%.
There has been an increase of 68% in the number of reports of rape with 243 reports at the end of July this year compared to 145 for the same period last year. Break and Enter and Larceny and Burglary have shown an overall increase of 9%.
Unto the end of July this year, a total of 74 illegal firearms have been recovered by the police comprising 1 sub-machine gun, 43 pistols, 18 revolvers, 5 shotguns, 6 rifles and 1 pen-gun. This compares to a total of 46 illegal firearms that were recovered unto this time last year.
According to the police, the force is continuing in its efforts aimed at crime prevention through its police-community partnership programme,along with social crime prevention interventions in the Policing Divisions, with special emphasis on empowering youths.