Crime continues to trend downward in the Southern Division, with police reporting fewer serious offences and homicides while stepping up efforts to combat home invasions and other violent crimes.
Statistics presented at the TTPS Media Briefing on Wednesday by Superintendent Richard Bertie of the Southern Division show an overall reduction in serious crime between January 1st and July 20th, 2026, compared with the same period last year.
The statistics also showed an improvement in the detection rate, with more cases being solved despite fewer crimes being reported.
“For 2025, there were 831 reports of serious crimes in the Division, with 414 solved, representing a 50% detection rate. For 2026, there have been 775 reports, with 417 solved, representing a 54% detection rate. This denotes an overall increase of 3% when compared to the same period last year. In addition, there were 56 less reported crimes, showing a 7% decrease.”
Superintendent Bertie also reported a decline in homicides, noting that murders fell by 16% compared with the same period last year.
“There were 31 reported homicides in the Division for 2025, for the period under review, when compared to 26 reports for 2026, showing an overall decrease of 16%. A further analysis revealed the root causes of these homicides are: three were domestic-related, four arose out of altercations. In eight of these homicides, the motive was robbery, four were drug-related, six were out of revenge and disputes, and one with an unknown cause.”
Meanwhile, Acting Superintendent Lystra Bridgelal said police have made progress in tackling home invasions.
She credited targeted operations and Preventive Detention Orders (PDOs) with reducing incidents in several communities.
“We have had 36 reports of this crime in the Southern Division. Twelve were solved, representing a 32% detection rate. Within recent times, there was also a major breakthrough in the Gasparillo District, where 11 persons were arrested and subsequently placed on Preventive Detention Orders. As a result, there has been a decrease in this incident of crime in our particular area.”
She added that the arrests of key suspects have contributed to a noticeable decline in home invasions in the Barrackpore and Princes Town districts.
“In the Barrackpore and Princes Town districts, there has been a noticeable decrease in home invasions due to main perpetrators being arrested and charged for these offences. When we look at warrants in the Southern Division, this has also been at the forefront. So far this year, we have 762 warrants which have been executed, as compared to 755 for the last year.”
Police say they are targeting crime through intelligence-led policing focused on high-risk areas and offenders, increased firearm recovery, community mediation, and youth intervention programmes aimed at reducing violent crime and improving public safety across the Southern Division.