The country’s monthly crime rate has for the last 5 years dropped by nearly half, with the record lowest figures recorded in August this year.
According to statistics communicated by the police, a total of 283 crimes were committed for the whole of last month compared to 543 in August 2012, representing a total drop of 48%. Among those crimes, we see a 46% decrease in thefts (85 compared to 157 in 2012) and 56% in burglary or night robberies (66 compared to 148 in 2012).
Crime figures have also dropped considerably compared to the same period of last year when a total of 429 crimes were committed, the average standing at about 34%. Same applies to specific crimes with 127 thefts and 129 burglaries in August 2015.
The figures were communicated by police spokesman Jean Toussaint during a press conference at the police headquarters yesterday afternoon.
According to Mr Toussaint, the major factor resulting in the accomplishment is the recent restructuring in police operations whereby different officers have been assigned with new responsibilities and station commanders are also mandated to deal with incidents in the region for which they are responsible.
Other causes include the Police Commissioner’s weekly meetings with officers for feedback and strategies, foot as well as motor patrols, community policing, police visibility and interventions in places considered as black spots with the support of other units such as the Dog Unit and the Police Security Support Wing (PSSW) and overall criminal intelligence.
Technological development which Mr Toussaint says is one of the strategies of the Seychelles’ Police has also contributed to the significant fall in crime rate.
He added that with General Positioning System (GPS) installed in police vehicles, the command centre can now detect their location and by radio get the one nearest to the crime scene to intervene.
With also numerous surveillance cameras installed in the town area, this has caused the response time to also improve, with 10 minutes set as the response target.
Although the police public relations manager acknowledges that it is difficult to always satisfy this objective, he stresses that it is successfully attained in 80 to 90% of cases.
Development in technology has also permitted the police to collect and keep relevant data on potential suspects, with a Tracking Team constantly tracing them. With the help of the system Mr Toussaint says, wanted persons are generally arrested within 24 to 48 hours.
Finally, he believes that the different de-intoxication programmes which are currently followed by a large group of drug addicts have resulted in a drop in drug demand, thus a drop in consequent crimes.
“Much work has been done to reduce crime level. If the situation was very alarming at one moment, we can say that it is much more under control now,” Mr Toussaint concluded.
He has also thanked the public for its continued support in detecting and controlling crime.
