THERE has been a rise in the murder rate for 2011 when compared with the same period in 2010. This is according to Police Commissioner Henry Greene, as he referred to the many gun crimes and crimes of passion over the past few months.

He was at the time addressing The Guyana Police Force’s Annual Award ceremony at the Tactical Services Unit, Eve Leary.

“For the year so far, there have been 74 murders, and this is 20 percent higher than last year’s figures. There were 59 murders by the end of July 2010,” the Commissioner said.   

Greene disclosed that 26 of the murders this year were as a result of disorderly behaviour, 16 were domestic-related, 14 resulted from robberies, and another 14 were execution-style killings”.

The Commissioner went on to explain that there has been an increase too in the number of robberies under arms. There were 299 for this year so far, as compared to 274 during the same period last year.   
Many of these robberies were conducted with the use of illegal firearms. Sixty-seven unlicensed firearms were seized so far this year, compared to 51 for the same period in 2010.

Greene stressed that the issue of illegal firearms around the country is very worrying, and efforts are continuing to curb this.   
“It’s not that we are not making efforts; we are doing everything we can to keep this situation under control; some of these efforts include setting up anti-crime units throughout the country, among others,” Greene said.   

The Commissioner assured the nation that the Force has been doing its best to ensure that citizens’ safety is not compromised.