MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Police here are reporting a 23 per cent reduction in major crimes recorded since the start of this year in comparison to the corresponding period last year (January 1 to October 8).

Acting commander in charge of the Manchester Police, Deputy Superintendent Lloyd Darby told last Thursday’s sitting of the local municipal corporation that serious crimes were down by 84.

“The statistics show a decrease of 84 or 23 per cent at this time. This trend of decrease has been for a number of years which I see as significant, because if you decrease each year it becomes harder to continue to decrease and we have been able to do that,” he told councillors.

He said 34 per cent of serious crimes had been cleared by the police since the start of this year.

“Ninety-five incidents or 34 per cent of the reports in this period have been cleared. An additional 31 have been cleared for previous years, especially last year which brings an overall clear up rate of 136 or 45 per cent,” Darby said.

Murder is down by seven per cent, with 28 recorded so far this year in comparison to 30 last year. Twelve of the murders have been cleared.

Shootings are down by 38 per cent; the number of reported rape cases is down by 62 per cent; robberies are down by 27 per cent; and break-ins have dropped by 24 per cent.

Eight cases of larceny have been reported since the start of this year, while six were reported last year, Darby said.

Aggravated assault is also up, with 33 reported cases so far this year, compared to 29 last year.

Thirteen illegal firearms have been seized by the police so far in the parish this year.

DSP Darby sought to reassure stakeholders in Williamsfield which was rocked by three murders in recent weeks.

Police have theorised the motives for all three, which include the September 18 murder of Danian Simpson and the October 5 murder of Wendy Harrison, both businesspeople in Williamsfield.

DSP Darby disclosed that the motive for Simpson’s murder was robbery. Simpson’s father was also shot and injured in that incident.

In the neighbouring community of Land Settlement, the police theorise that scamming was the motive for another murder.

“While over in Land Settlement, one Aljay Green was shot and killed, we believe that the motive for this was [in relation] to scamming activities which were taking place at that location,” Darby said.

“We believe that we are very near to clearing this crime as we await scientific evidence,” he added.

In relation to Harrison’s murder, the police are probing various angles.

“We are pursuing several theories in respect of this incident, one of them is a love triangle and another [being that] of a property dispute. Investigations are active and advanced, and we are using a lot of scientific evidence,” he said.