THE Guyana Police Force (GPF), yesterday, reported a seven percent overall increase in serious crimes at the end of January 2014, in comparison to January 2013.
The total number of reports made during January 2014 was 341, as compared to 318 in January 2013. Some of the offences monitored are murder, robbery under arms, robbery with violence, larceny from the person, break and enter and larceny, burglary, rape and kidnapping.A press release said a total of 17 murders were recorded at the end of January 2014 as against 10 during the same period in 2013, 70 percent more. Of the 17 in January 2014, four were of the disorderly type, three committed during armed robberies and three were domestic related, while the other seven are, so far, not categorised.
The report said, at the end of January 2014, robbery under arms overall had increased by 44 percent, with 105 such reports compared to 73 for the comparable period in 2013.
The figures indicate an increase of 50 percent in the number of armed robberies involving the use of firearms and 30 percent more of those robberies where instruments other than firearms were used by the perpetrators.

FOUR MORE
In relation to traffic, there have been four more road fatalities at the end of January 2014, in comparison to the same period in 2013, with 11 fatalities from 10 accidents in January 2014 compared to seven from six accidents during January 2013.
January 2014 saw reductions in the other categories of accidents classified as serious, minor and damage, GPF said.
Police said pedestrians have been the main road users affected, with six such persons having lost their lives at the end of January 2014. In addition, three motorcyclists and two pedal cyclists have also died.
The release noted that speeding continues to be a major contributing factor to fatal accidents and was the cause of seven of the 10 fatalities recorded at the end of January 2014.
Traffic enforcement by the Police during January 2014 resulted in a total of 3,946 cases being made against errant motorists and, of that number 1,786 were for speeding, the report stated.
To date, one other person has lost her life on the roadways for February 2014.
Written By Michel Outridge