Those murders become the sixth and seventh for April of this year, which is up from the total of four murders in April of 2009. We note though that is the only crime statistic that – according to police figures is up so far in 2010. Most of you would agree that in 2010 you feel more unsafe than ever before - but according to figures for the first three months of the year presented to the media in an off camera meeting with the Commissioner of Police today, major crime, meaning robbery, rape, murder, theft and burglary are all down substantially.
Up to the end of March, murder was down by 14% when compared to the same period last year; robbery was down 21.4%, burglary down 31%, and theft down 35%. Again, all those figures are compared to statistics for 2009.
Now if these numbers don’t square with your sense of what’s happening in your community and your personal sense of vulnerability indiscriminate violent crime, the media told the Commissioner we felt the same way – that the numbers don’t cut it. But, the Commissioner, who has literally made a living off what can only be called statistication – would only concede that, “brutish-ness and aggression are on the rise.”
