THE Police have said it solved 77 percent of all murder cases last year, the highest percentage achieved by the Guyana Police Force (GPF) in years.

Acting Commissioner of Police, David Ramnarine told a news conference last week that there were 116 reports of murder in 2017 as against 142 in 2016. The figure represented a decrease of 18 percent, but what was more significant is of the 116 cases of murder, 88 were solved. “This percentage has been very high for the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and for this country for quite a long while and we believe this ranks among the highest solved or clear-up rate anywhere in recent times,” he said.

Speaking about the 11 per cent decrease in serious crimes, the acting Top Cop said that at the end of the year, the figure was around 10 per cent. He commended his ranks for the extra work they put in during the holidays to achieve a further reduction.”

He also expressed concern about the troubling spate of carjackings, with the perpetrators showing a preference for Toyota Premio and Toyota Allion brands.

According to Ramnarine, the carjackings seem to have some sort of “criminal industrialised concept, with apparent collusion between several players in the criminal enterprise. “In the first two months of the last quarter of 2017, we saw an increase (in carjackings) which was worrisome.

In 2015, there were 41 cases, there were 36 in 2016, and 47 (carjackings) in 2017. We note of the 47 cases, in 2017, 16 (of the stolen vehicles) were Toyota Premio, and eight were Toyota Allion,” he said.