At the end of February 2015 the Guyana Police Force says it recorded a 4% drop in serious crimes in comparison to the same period in 2014 and armed robberies with guns were down by 33%.
Among the serious crimes assessed by the Force are murder, robbery under arms, robbery with violence, robbery with aggravation, larceny from the person, break and enter and larceny, burglary, rape, and kidnapping.
A release from the police yesterday said that a total of 25 murders were recorded at the end of February 2015 in comparison to 24 murders at the end of February 2014.
At the end of February 2015 robbery under arms overall had dropped by 29% in comparison to the same period in 2014.
The statistics indicate a decline of 33% in the number of armed robberies involving the use of firearms; and a 22% drop in armed robberies where instruments other than firearms were used by the perpetrators, the release said.
In relation to traffic, 19 road fatalities from 12 accidents have been recorded at the end of February 2015, in comparison to 19 fatalities from 19 accidents for the same period last year.
There have been decreases in all other categories of road accidents – serious, minor and damage, the release added.
Passengers in motor vehicles has been the main category of road users affected so far in road fatalities with nine such persons having died at the end of February 2015.
In addition one pedal cyclist, six pedestrians and three drivers also lost their lives.
Speeding has been the major contributory factor to fatal accidents, having been the cause of seven of the 12 fatal accidents up to February 2015, the police said.
