Bahamas gov"t mulls removal of bail in gun crimes

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Tuesday, December 31, 2013 | 12:49 PM

NASSAU, Bahamas (CMC) – The Bahamas government says it is considering legislation that would impose additional restrictions on the ability of judges to grant bail in offences involving crimes of violence and the use of firearms. Prime Minister Perry Christie said Cabinet had discussed the crime situation in the country, particularly in light of the weekend drive-by killings of four people in the Fox Hill area.Christie said the police would escalation “saturation patrols” using both marked and unmarked vehicles and that they would also be “even more robustly equipped with cars and other crime-fighting tools as an integral part of the escalated saturation patrols, especially areas that are known as hot spots in New Providence”.He said there would be a re-instatement of the 12-hour policing shift, possibly on new terms and that a further announcement on this subject would be made once the necessary consultations within law enforcement have been completed.But Christie said that his administration is “deeply concerned about the number of persons who are arrested and charged with serious crimes while out on bail. “This is a major problem in the war against crime. The government is fully prepared to legislatively intervene to impose addition al restrictions on the ability of judges to grant bail in offences involving crimes of violence and the use of firearms. “He said cabinet had also directed the Ministry of Works to work “around the clock” to complete refurbishment of additional criminal courts so that as many as 10 criminal courts would be able to hear criminal cases simultaneously.Like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jamaicaobserverFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/JamaicaObserver

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Bahamas gov"t mulls removal of bail in gun crimes