Sint Maarten. Des statistiques liées à la criminalité assez impressionnantes
La “Korps Politie Sin Maarten” publiait en fin de semaine dernière son bilan en terme de lutte contre la criminalité 2013. Globalement, et les chiffres en attestent, les efforts de la police de Sint Maarten ont été plus qu’encourageants avec des baisses très significatives dans beaucoup de secteurs. En pied d’article vous trouverez le document illustrant graphiquement ces évolutions par classe de délits.
Il serait naturellement intéressant que les deux pays en charge de la sécurité à Saint-Martin et Sint Maarten puissent développer un système d’évaluation statistique au moins similaire si ce n’est commun pour que l’on puisse apprécier si les évolutions par secteurs sont communes ou si une baisse à Sint Maarten engendre par exemple une hausse à Saint-Martin. A moins que tout ne dépende finalement que des conditions économiques et du pouvoir d’achats des résidents… Mention spéciale toutefois pour ce qui est de l’argent provenant d’activités illicites confisqué par les forces de l’ordre puisque de $200 000 en 2012, le montant est passé à $2 400 000 en 2013 !
Crime against property or public goods
The number of registered capital offences has dropped steadily since 2010. Compared to 2010 the number of capital offenses has dropped by 37 %, which is quite impressive. 2010 through 2013 has shown a downward trend in criminal activities. Burglaries have dropped to approximately 50 percent and have created a certain sense of relief.
– A burglary-team was put together in 2011. Using tactical and forensic evidence and gathering of information resulted in groups of offenders being linked to various burglaries. The results of these investigations led to more arrests, convictions and expulsions.
– In 2011 there was sudden increase in homicides which needed tremendous attention. The burglary team was also required to temporarily put many of their cases on hold to assist in homicide investigations. This caused a back-log in the handling of these cases. Since 2012 the team has become quite active again and has been dealing with the situation.
– The number of robberies has dropped drastically.
– Although it cannot show in numbers, the visibility of the “men and women in blue” had a preventive effect. Also the installment of “Community Policing” has shown its effectiveness and is partially the cause of a great reduction in criminal activity since 2010.
Homicide
Also in 2013 the trend in the numbers of manslaughters and murders declined.
It is quite risky to express the outcome of these types of investigations, because they are unpredictable and because of the complex composition of the population, etc. it can have a major impact.
Crime against physical integrity
This type of criminal activity often occurs during a relationship between partners such as “domestic violence” and aggression. It is advisable to invest more in prevention and awareness but, it is largely the responsibility of the authorities other than the police (legislation), although the police have an important role to play in terms of information and as a partner.
Sexual offenses
Sexual offenses are very difficult to quantify. Because these crimes taking place in a home environment they are not reported immediately and because the population is quite reluctant to bring these things out, there may be a relatively large “Dark Number”.
Many sexual abuse cases start with an interview and then moves on to the care and assistance of the victim who does not want to press charges or dares to do so. The figures presented here therefore relate only matters that have been reported.
Other offenses
Destruction of property is generally a crime category common in every country. The solution for this is to give training and education in addition to police intervention.
The numbers of other offences are so small that there are no meaningful statements made about them.
