Commissioner of Police Mr. Michael A. DeSilva - The release of the 2016 crime report was delayed by technical issues with the new MEMEX crime recording system. The exercise of migrating data from one system to another was a lengthy one, and we took care to ensure that the numbers in this report are completely accurate.

Having said that, I can now report that total crime for 2016 fell by 164 crimes or about 4%. 2016 is the 3rd lowest year for total crime since 2000, behind 2013 (3,480) and 2014 (3,394).

Bermuda has recorded less than 1,000 crimes per quarter for 18 continuous quarters. That is a positive indicator that the general trend of total crime continues to be in a slight downward direction.

Crimes against the community (including firearms, weapons and disorder offences) decreased by 28%. Crimes against property as a whole were consistent with the year before, although residential burglaries specifically were up by 18%. Crimes against the person collectively increased by 4%, the most notable of which is robberies which jumped from 46 in 2015 to 81 in 2016.

As we reported last year, the increase in robberies is worrying but we should not be alarmist. Almost all robberies are crimes of opportunity to acquire money or other property, or they result from tensions and clashes between rival gang members. In all cases, we continue to advocate crime prevention tactics to reduce the opportunities for robberies to occur, and we encourage anyone to call in with information about suspicious activity to help catch and convict the offenders.

Regrettably, the report is punctuated by 7 homicides, 5 of which were committed with firearms, and another 9 people were injured by firearms. One additional death was recorded as manslaughter. There were 31 confirmed firearms incidents, an increase from 12 the previous year.

11 lives were tragically lost on our roads, an increase from 7 the year before. This equates to 18 road deaths per 100,000 population, placing Bermuda in the top half of the World Health Organization’s estimation of global road traffic fatality rates. The total number of traffic collisions increased by 7% in 2016, but at 1,400 collisions last year was 10% lower than the 5 year average of 1,540.

The long-term downward trend of crime and the total crime reduction of 4% last year are both encouraging, but they are marred by an increase in violent crime and an apparent rise in the fear of crime. The BPS is working to address both of these issues. Having received Government funding to hire 30 police officers this year, we are recruiting trained firearms officers to join our ranks by the start of the America’s Cup, and a local Recruit Foundation Course commences in September. 12 police cadets will also be hired through this exercise, and we will take our operational strength back up to 425 officers.

We are also working to reduce the fear of crime, especially where those fears might be disproportionate to the reality. The BPS is committed to “Making Bermuda Safer” by tackling crime and anti-social behaviour, and making the roads safer. Our officers work to enhance public confidence by providing highly visible and effective policing and responding quickly to emergencies. We are particularly focused in the neighbourhoods that need the most support and we encourage the public to engage with our officers and partner with us in those efforts.