Grenada police are reporting “a noticeable absence of serious crimes directly related to carnival activities” in the just ended carnival season.
In a report to the local media, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ryan Hall said there were no reports of a sexual nature and of robbery throughout the carnival period that ran from August 11-16.
However, he disclosed that there was one fatal shooting incident at Egmont which was not related to the carnival activities.
“It is important to clarify that the homicide was unrelated to our carnival activities,” he said.
A masked man fired a bullet into the head of 30-year old Delvon Thomas outside of a luxury house in the upscale community of Egmont, approximately 7 miles outside of the capital city.
The police are currently investigating the matter.
According to ASP Hall, there were 15 reports filed with CID concerning property crimes of opportunity, 7 offences relating to harm with only two being considered as indictable offences.
The CID chief said the Department did receive several reports of what he called “little fights” in the carnival celebrations, but officers responded promptly and managed “to diffuse the situation before they escalated into more serious altercations.”
ASP Hall called on citizens with information about the Egmont deadly shooting and other murders that are under active investigations to come forward and assist the police.
“We are ready and awaiting whatever information you have to share with us that can assist in the investigation of any of these matters,” he told reporters.
Prior to Monday’s fatal shooting incident, it is believed that police are still trying to solve six recent murders in the country including that of LGBT member, Josiah “Jonty” Robinson, on June 18 in which two U.S-based celebrities have offered US$100, 000.00 to anyone who can provide information that can lead to the suspect.
Like ASP Hall, Head of Operations in the RGPF High Command, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), John Mitchell, told reporters at the brief press conference that there were hardly any issues or incidents reported to the police relating to violence or crime during the entire holiday period.
On traffic matters, Inspector Ryan Smith disclosed that a total of 58 road accidents occurred during carnival with only one being considered as serious, as opposed to 2022 when the island had in excess of 60 accidents with 3 falling into the category of being serious.
The officer at the Traffic Department on the Carenage said that police issued 55 traffic tickets in the carnival period with most of them for prohibited parking and failing to comply with instructions from officers and ignoring traffic signs in terms of going into no entry areas.
Inspector Smith told reporters that the number of tickets issued this year was less than the same period in 2022, and that a number of vehicles were clamped and towed away by the Police for violating traffic signs.