Covid a key factor in 2021 crime count, police data shows
Figures released by the Bermuda Police Service showed how measures used to limit the spread of Covid-19 affected crimes recorded in 2021.
The statistics, published yesterday, indicated that offences then were at their lowest level since comparable figures were first compiled in 2000.
Darrin Simons, the Commissioner of Police, said: “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.”
In an executive summary, the BPS’s Official Statistics Report for 2021 said: “There were 3,165 offences recorded in Bermuda in 2021, a decrease of 132 or 4 per cent compared with the 3,297 offences in 2020.
“The 3,165 offences in 2021 is the lowest offence figure by year, since comparable records in 2000. 2017 was the second lowest year for offences since 2000, with 3,202 offences.”
Key findings were said to include a decrease in crimes against the person from 639 offences in 2020 to 579 in 2021.
The report explained: “Year-on-year decreases were recorded in most categories, especially other assaults, which decreased from 469 to 398 likely due to Covid regulations being in place that minimised social gatherings and the potential for suspects and victims to be in proximity.
“Offences against children almost doubled from 23 to 43.”
The report showed that property crimes dipped from 1,741 in 2020 to 1,735 in 2021, when the lowest yearly total was recorded since 2000.
It said: “While Covid regulations minimised social gatherings and the movement of both potential victims and suspects, this is also part of the long-term trend of crimes against property decreasing from a high of 4,524 in 2000.”
Figures showed that from 2020 to 2021, residential burglary offences dropped from 267 to 233; theft of property fell from 523 to 490; and motor-vehicle theft increased from 492 to 531.
There were seven recorded murders in 2021, including three that involved bladed weapons and three that involved firearms.
The total number of traffic collisions was 1,263, and 17 of those were fatalities, “one of the highest numbers recorded”, the commissioner said.
Mr Simons added: “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.”
He explained: “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 back-end functions to respond to calls for service and enforce Covid-19 measures.
“Although the BPS continue to enhance its intelligence-led policing capabilities, the immediate need was to maintain service delivery during the pandemic.”
Mr Simons said: “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 2½-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.”
He added that the report was useful in terms of “setting out what happened from a crime perspective” and identifying the police service’s response to the pandemic, as well as the challenges that faced Bermuda.
Mr Simons said: “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 record, manage and report their activities.”
The document said that crimes against the community dropped from 917 in 2020 to 851 in 2021.
The report said: “Covid impacted official statistics with new legislation creating offences and peak offending recorded during the lockdown periods.
“Covid offences were recorded on land and on the waters of Bermuda, from the start of Covid enforcement on March 30, 2020 to June 16, 2022.”
The BPS year-end crime report for 2021 said that there were seven murders that year, including three from firearms and three from bladed weapons.
It said another 13 people were shot and injured.
The report said there were 27 firearm incidents recorded in 2021.
Of those, 17 were confirmed incidents, 4 were unconfirmed and 6 were recoveries of firearms and/or ammunition.
It explained that the crime category of antisocial behaviour contained all Covid-related offences and that regulations in 2020 required new offences to support Covid enforcement, including rules related to curfews, mask wearing, household mixing and restrictions on boating activities, such as raft-ups.
Figures showed that antisocial behaviour offences unrelated to Covid remained below the long-term average, the report said.
They revealed that in 2020 there were 316 Covid-related offences in addition to 452 other antisocial behaviour offences. In 2021, the totals were 329 and 397 respectively.
The report said that when antisocial behaviour incidents were removed from crimes against the community figures, the long-term trend was that such crimes decreased from an average of 60 a quarter from 2000 to 2009, to 36 offences a quarter from 2017 to 2021.
It added: “Substantial decreases were noted in the long term for disorder and other weapon offences.
“During Covid lockdowns and/or curfews periods, the substantial enforcement resources of both the BPS and the Royal Bermuda Regiment at community checkpoints further decreased potential offending behaviour.”
The report said there were 1,263 road traffic collisions recorded by police in 2021.
Incidents included 17 fatalities, 106 serious injuries, 559 minor injuries and 581 damage-only RTCs.
The report said: “Using the five-year period of 2017 to 2021, on average [on Bermuda’s roads], one person died every 30 days, one person was severely injured every 3½ days and one person was slightly injured every 15 hours.”
The report said that 1,657 arrests were recorded in 2021, the lowest yearly total since comparable records began in 2008. It added that the total was “less than half that of 2019, showing the impact of Covid on BPS enforcement activity”.
It revealed that the youngest person arrested was aged 13, for alleged theft of a motor vehicle, and the oldest was 81, for an alleged theft.
The largest age group of people arrested in 2021 was 26-35, which comprised 485 of the total arrests.
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