By Deandrea Hamilton &Dana Malcolm

Editorial Staff

#TurksandCaicos, June 15, 2022 – Despite a double-digit increase of 10 percent in overall crime and a 13 percent spike in serious crimes, Royal TCI Police Commissioner Trevor Botting maintains the rhetoric that the police have got crime “under control.”

The crime statistics for 2021-2022 were released on Monday; they measure the number of incidents recorded between April 2021 to March 2022; running concurrently with the country’s fiscal year.  It is a departure from previous years which counted crime and arrests over a calendar year.  This methodology was announced in 2021 as the new standard for the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police.

The increase in incredibly violent crimes against residents and visitors is especially concerning at a time when the Turks and Caicos is experiencing exponential growth, with investors listing it as one of the most desirable places in the region for investments. Real Estate and Tourism have recorded banner years in terms of arrivals and revenue, which has pushed government income to $391 million.

The police budget for the year 2022-2023 is $ 32.5 million, nearly half of the $ 67.3 million allocated for public order and safety. The figure shared during the May 2022 Budget communication  is an impressive $3 million higher than the 2021-2022 allocation; then at $29.4 million.

Botting’s rationale for stating the police have crime under control is linked to significant arrests he said.  Royal TCI Police have caught suspects who drove up the crime rate early in quarter four of this past year (January and February.)

In this January/February 2022 period, a spate of violent crimes was carried out against locals and tourists alike including shootings, a chopping, armed home or villa invasions, armed carjackings, parking lot and beach ambushes and store robberies.

In some cases people were shot at; at least a tourist and a little girl were hit by bullet.  Both, thankfully survived.

“Whilst overall crime and the number of serious crimes have risen by 10 percent and 13 percent respectively, the Turks and Caicos suffered a very significant surge in crime during January and February 2022. This surge accounted for 68 additional serious crimes when compared to the year before and in relation to overall crime, the same two months saw an additional 121 crimes when compared with January and February 2021.

We believe these additional crimes were carried out by a very small number of prolific offenders, offenders which are no longer active,” said Commissioner Botting.

Overall there were 1,738 crimes committed in the Turks and Caicos during the April 2021 to March 2022 period which is 157 more crimes than the 1,581 committed in the previous 12 months April 2020 to March 2021, causing the 10 percent increase.

For context, without the ‘68 additional serious crimes’ perpetrated during the January/February 2022 spike, there would have been a total of 1670 crimes in the 12-month period, an increase of 5 percent over the previous period regardless.

Additionally, the Police Commissioner did not give any details on the operations connected to these ‘prolific offenders’ and he did not say what he meant by them being no longer active.

Commissioner Botting did provide reasonably detailed statistics.

There were a total of 355 serious crimes, 42 more than the 313 recorded in the 12-month period before accounting for the 13 percent increase. This also puts the number of serious crimes 12 percent higher than the 5-year average of 315.

The number of burglaries held firm with the same 286 as the period before. There was a rise in aggravated burglaries with 19 more offenses than the year before, a total of 53.

It is important to note that the recent spate of robberies and car thefts in late May are not included in these statistics.

Another unsurprising rise was in Firearms Offences with an additional 37 crimes compared to the same period the year before.

There was no report on the gun amnesty in March and how many, if any firearms, were recovered from that effort.

The only reductions included in the report were a one percent reduction in the number of robberies and a 20 percent reduction in the number of murders. There were 20 people killed in 2020–2021 compared to 16 in this period.

The decrease in murder at least is cause for celebration, Commissioner Botting described it as ‘very welcome’ and said the police would be continuing with targeted operations throughout the year to get the figures down. He noted that while the police work hard other issues had to be tackled if they are to be successful in their crime-fighting efforts

“Whilst policing is at the forefront of crime prevention and detection through enforcement and the Officers and staff within the Force have worked very hard to tackle the surge in crime committed by prolific and dangerous criminals, the societal issues that are the causes of crime must be tackled to see a sustained reduction in crime, especially serious crime.”

Still the sense of urgency felt by Islanders seems to be absent for the Commissioner of Police.  Residents have openly stated, it is the longstanding secrecy about crimes which are happening, the ongoing negative advisory and warning about the safety of the destination which is so heavily tourism dependent by the US Department of Homeland Security, the low rate of crime detection and convictions and the high rate of individuals seemingly getting away with murder which creates the unshakable angst.

Bottom line a crime rate on the rise is simply not under control.