By Zaya Williams

Young people “have become victims of crimes just as much as they have been perpetrators of crimes,” according to Police Commissioner Atlee Rodney.

Rodney made this statement during a press conference where he disclosed increased crime in 2023.

“There was a slight in criminal reports that we had to respond to compared to 2022. What we also noticed was a large number of cases that were solved this year, some from previous years and some that took place during the course of 2023,” he stated.

According to him, 3425 crimes were reported last year, compared to 3166 in 2022. Of those crimes, 246 were committed by young people aged 14-25, constituting 7 percent of the overall figure. Only 20 of them, however, were under 18.

Rodney also revealed that 139 youths aged 10-25 were victims of crimes, with 69 males and 70 females.

Expressing concern, he highlighted that 33 percent of overall crime reports were related to larceny.

“Everything that has value is capable of being stolen. Therefore, any item that is reported as stolen has to be recorded. It doesn’t matter if it costs a dollar or if it costs a million dollars,” he explained.

Meanwhile, break-ins accounted for 754 incidents, malicious damage for 12 percent, and robbery only 3 percent. Serious crimes like murder remained the same as in 2022, with only 10 murders recorded.

On a positive note, Rodney mentioned that the police “did more patrols, we did more search warrants, we did more stop and search, and as a result…our seizure of firearms has increased.”