Acting Governor David Arkley has waded into the debate over this newspapers’ story comparing the island’s murder rate with the world average, saying that statistics must always be taken into context.“While even one murder is too many, the statistics quoted in The Royal Gazette of 21 November need to be taken in context (as do all statistics).“Naturally I would not wish to minimise the seriousness of the number of murders over the past two years or so, but it is important to view these in context,” Mr Arkley said.He said five of the eight murders this year were gang related, while three were unrelated to gun crime.“In this context it is clear that the risk to the average resident or visiting tourist is far lower than the bald statistics might suggest.“In fact overall crime is at an 11 year low and the first three quarters of 2011 show crime 8.6 percent lower than 2010 which was itself a record low over the same period.“In 2010 only 804 crimes against the person were reported by residents and visitors.”