PHILIPSBURG--While a number of offences, including murder, rape and attempted homicide, increased in 2014 compared to the year prior, some crimes such as car burglaries and home invasions plummeted, crime figures released by the police show.

 

The figures in the report are based on figures recorded from January to December 2014 and compared to the years 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

 

Homicide

According to the figures, 10 murders were recorded in 2014 compared to three in 2013, 10 in 2012, 18 in 2011 and seven in 2010. There were 23 attempted homicides/murders in 2014 compared to 14 in 2013, 11 in 2012, nine in 2011 and 12 in 2010.

 

According to the report St. Maarten was "fortunate" not to have reached the level of the year 2011 with 18 murders, but the 10 of last year were "still 10 too many. What is noteworthy is that 70 per cent of the cases have now been resolved or there is/are one or more suspects in picture."

 

Regarding the attempted murders, the report said compared to 2010, these crimes had increased much. "Often ill-treatment ... is due to relational violence. It would be good to do something about it where education and prevention are concerned, but that's mainly for other entities than the police."

 

Property offences

There were 232 home invasions last year compared to 307 in 2013, 366 in 2012, 519 in 2011 and 667 in 2010.

 

There were 63 burglaries in 2014 compared to 71 in 2013, 112 in 2012, 128 in 2011 and 199 in 2010.

 

There were 150 robberies in 2014, 160 in 2013, 199 in 2012, 296 in 2011 and 238 in 2010.

 

A total of 150 auto thefts were recorded in 2014, 154 in 2013, 183 in 2012, 215 in 2011 and 253 in 2010.

 

There were 405 thefts in 2014, 380 in 2013, 429 in 2012, 453 in 2011 and 462 in 2010.

 

There were 140 auto burglaries in 2014, 258 in 2013, 250 in 2012, 225 in 2011 and 286 in 2010.

 

The report said authorities keep seeing decreases in property offences. "The number of car thefts has fallen by 60 per cent since 2010. The number of burglaries keeps falling and regarding the robberies we even see a decrease of 63 per cent compared to the year we started to record the KPSM [Police Force of St. Maarten – Ed.] figures. That's something to be very proud of, which indicates that combating property crime in St. Maarten has been improving," the report reads.

 

Sex offences

In the area of sex offences, there were 14 rapes in 2014 compared to seven in 2013, 13 in 2012, eight in 2011 and eight in 2010.

 

There were five sexual assaults in 2014 compared to seven in 2013, four in 2012, and three in 2010. No figure was mentioned for 2011.

 

There was one sexual offence captioned "community child between the ages of 12 to 15 years old" for 2014, six in 2012 and one in 2011. No figure was mentioned for the other years.

 

There were three sexual offenses against "community child 12 years" in 2014 and four in 2012. No figure was mentioned for the other years.

Three fornication reports were recorded in 2014, five in 2013, four in 2012 and six each in 2011 and 2010.

 

According to the figures, 243 sexual "threats" were reported in 2014, 174 in 2013, 219 in 2012, 187 in 2011 and 124 in 2010.

 

There were 230 sexual "maltreatment" cases reported in 2014, 225 in 2013, 210 in 2012, 148 in 2011 and 171 in 2010.

 

There were 54 cases of sexual maltreatment with a weapon recorded in 2014, 45 in 2013, 58 in 2012, 71 in 2011 and 82 in 2010.

 

A total of 12 cases of aggravated sexual assault were noted in 2014, five in 2013, eight in 2012, 12 in 2011 and 16 in 2010.

 

The report said 2014 "was a real challenge" for the Police Youth and Morals Unit, because it had conducted a few large-scale investigations.

"The difficulty with sexual crimes is always that they are difficult to accurately keep count. Many of these crimes are taking place in the home and the willingness to report them is not great.

 

"What we may conclude, if we look at the larger number of reports regarding rape that has come to us, is that confidence in the police gradually increases and the reluctance slowly decreases. In these figures, we are always very careful, because the number of reports being brought to us is probably the tip of the iceberg," the report says.

 

Other offences

There were 117 cases of destruction reported in 2014, 139 in 2013, 126 in 2012, 118 in 2011 and 173 in 2010.

 

One case of scam/swindling was recorded in 2014 compared to 41 in 2013, 43 in 2012, 20 in 2011 and eight in 2010.

 

Seventeen cases of embezzlement were recorded in 2014 compared to 12 in 2013, 16 in 2012, six in 2011 and 14 in 2010. There were three cases of fraud/job embezzlement reported in 2014, two in 2013, six in 2012, four in 2011 and six in 2010.

 

Ten cases of arson were reported in 2014, four in 2013, seven in 2012, 16 in 2011 and five in 2010.

 

The report said a general decline is being seen in crimes reported to the Police Force, particularly for the years 2010 and 2013.

 

The Daily Herald