Police Release 2021 Official Statistics Report
The police have released their 2021 Official Statistics Report, noting that “while total crime was reduced, the Covid-19 regulations that were in effect throughout the year, limited gatherings and social activities, and so impacted crime patterns.”
Mr. Darrin Simons, Commissioner of Police said, “The Bermuda Police Service [BPS] has released its Official Statistics Report for 2021, highlighting key crime trends and patterns over the year. The report reveals a total of 3,165 recorded offences — a decrease of 4% compared to 2020 – and the lowest number since records began in 2000.
Key Findings:
- “Crimes Against the Person, decreased from 639 offences in 2020 to 579 in 2021.
- “Total property crimes dropped from 1,741 to 1,735.
- “There were 7 recorded murders, with 3 involving bladed articles, and 3 involving firearms.
- “Traffic collisions totalled 1,263, with 17 fatalities. One of the highest number recorded.
- “While total crime was reduced, the Covid-19 regulations that were in effect throughout the year, limited gatherings and social activities, and so impacted crime patterns.
“While the report aims to provide timely and objective information, it was delayed due to the necessity to support core policing services and functions. This required reallocating resources from backend functions to respond to calls for service and enforce Covid-19 measures. Although the BPS continues to enhance its Intelligence Led Policing capabilities, the immediate need was to maintain service delivery during the pandemic.
“The Official Statistics Report 2021, is accurate, objective and provides a snapshot of the crime that occurred, but it is regrettably not timely, given the 2.5-year delay. It should have been produced in April 2022. Officers routinely access the real-time crime data to make deployment decisions in the moment. This data needs to settle and undergo a rigorous review process before it is released to the public. The data that report summarizes was used to support focused resource deployment at operational and tactical levels in 2021, even prior to the report’s promulgation.
“Given this context, the report is useful in setting out what happened from a crime perspective and identifying the BPS’s response to the pandemic along with the challenges facing our community. It demonstrates our commitment to transparency and openness in our operations.
“Ultimately, the Official Statistics Report 2021, serves as a final point on how the BPS records, manages, and reports its activities.
Analysis and Future Direction:
“As your Commissioner of Police, I believe this report is both encouraging and revealing of our challenges. It captures the immense pressure the BPS faced during the pandemic while demonstrating our commitment to community safety from internal and external threats.
“The report affirms that, despite exceptional circumstances, we rearranged our limited resources to sustain frontline service, reinforcing our pledge to keep Bermuda safe. However, we continue to face various threats and internal concerns regarding capacity and capability.
“For detailed statistics and more information, we encourage the community to review the complete report available on our website. Thank you for your continued support.”
The full BPS Official Statistics Report 2021 follows below [PDF here]:
“Total property crimes dropped from 1,741 to 1,735″
Really, Commissioner? A State of Emergency had been proclaimed and the Public Health (COVID-19 Emergency Powers) Regulations were in place. And property crimes decreased by 6? That is a reduction of 0.0034%. Why would you mention that of all things?
No one answered the phones to take the call about a crime being committed, or the caller hung up because they were put on hold. Unless I missed it, even now there is no online crime reporting form on the BPS website to start an investigation. Millions were spent on CCTV, police computer systems & software but nothing was spent on a simple web-based crime/incident reporting form.
If you do get through on the phone, the standard response is to come in and fill out a police report – in this case, during covid lockdowns. Duh… Based on my last name, could I travel to a BPS station to report a crime without being stopped?
This is November 2024, and we are just seeing 2021 statistics. Really? How long would someone last in the private sector if it took this long to compile sales or production or customer statistics? Would the Government put up with a company taking this long to figure out its 2021 taxes? How about the Payroll Department taking this long to figure out how much to pay a Government employee? How about the Tax Commission’s office taking this long to figure out who owes 2021 taxes?
Why have a multi-million dollar crime computer & software system if crime results cannot be produced on demand? Is the problem with the people who had issues producing graphs in Excel and inserting the graphs in a Word document?
This is just unbelievable. How about hiring a High School kid to review the annual data, update the spreadsheets, and create a draft report so the police can fumble through making comments? That alone should cut over two years off the timeline.
Good grief! And then the disclaimer! Yet Government and BPS decisions will be made on data that looks, by the disclaimer, not audit-worthy! Naturally, the BPS will take credit for any drop in crime.
1.2 DATA INTEGRITY
The statistics, tables and graphs contained in this document are based on substantiated principal offences that occurred during the period covered (not recorded during the period covered), and which have been actively investigated. While every effort is made to ensure that the information contained in this report is accurate, >>> the BPS makes no warranty, representation or guarantee as to the content, sequence, accuracy, timeliness or completeness of any data or information provided. The reader should not rely on the data provided for comparison purposes over time, or for any reason. The BPS shall assume no liability for any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the information provided. The BPS will not be responsible for the use of, or the results obtained from the use of this report. The BPS assumes no liability for any decisions made or actions taken or not taken by the user in reliance of this report. <<< Any use of the document for commercial purposes is prohibited.
FIRED with extreme prejudice in the private sector.
Three years to get these stats. Pathetic, isn’t it.