Dominica has recorded 11 homicides thus far, with 4 committed by the use of firearms, this year.
Acting Chief of Police Lincoln Corbette made the announcement during a press conference on Monday. “For the year thus far, that is this year, we have recorded 11 homicides,” he said. “Four of these homicides have been committed with the use of firearms. I can also report that six of those homicides have been solved and we are actively investigating the other matters.”
He continued, “Those involved in the use of firearms, have not been solved, meaning that nobody has been charged. However, we have suspects in three of these matters.”
Furthermore, Corbette said effective June 6 of this year ,the CDPF has ramped up its police exercises in search of firearms.
“You will have seen officers on the streets doing a lot of Vehicle Checkpoints (VCPs) and we’ve also been doing house searches,” he stated.
This, he noted, is in response to the increased use of firearms by members of the public.
“To date, we have seized seven firearms, five by way of VCPs and two by way of house searches,” he revealed. “ So we have conducted almost 40 VCPs from June 6, to the 12th of July, 13 house searches.”
Corbette added, “We have seized 84 rounds of ammunition, 16 motorcycles, we have made 4 arrests, we also seized $15,000, 3 motor vehicles, and 1.1 kilos of cocaine.”
For the year so far, Corbette revealed that 49 firearms and 289 rounds of ammunition were seized by police at the port of Dominica.
“We have made two major seizures that we announced…But interestingly, in those seizures, we seized three high-powered AR-15 type rifles,” he emphasized. “ These rifles, as I have said before, are weapons of war, and they do not belong on the streets of Dominica. “
Going back to the year 2022, “we would have seized 94 firearms in the year 2022 and 2,140 rounds of ammunition. In 2023, 35 firearms, 1,651 rounds of ammunition. In the year 2024, 27 firearms and 764 rounds of ammunition and, 2025, thus far, 49 firearms at the port and 289 rounds at the port.”
Corbette indicated that this is a very significant number of firearms seized.
“And for the year, again, from 2022, we’ve arrested 51 people, in 2023, 42 individuals, in 2024, 31 individuals, and for the year so far, we’ve arrested 21 individuals for the use of firearms, or firearm-related offenses,” he revealed.
Meanwhile, Corbette called upon parents who know that their children are in possession of a firearm to ask them to surrender the weapon to the police.
He encourages members of the public to report any information he/she may have to the police. The numbers to call are 1-800-TIPS or 1-800-8477, Crime Stoppers Hotline.
“You can also report to any officer that you have confidence in,” Corbette encouraged.
Eleven too many! But we are lucky because if those thugs were able to aim their weapons accurately, the body-bag count would have been much higher.
You cannot put a man of questionable character as Minister of National Security and expect sterling performance. Ask Austrie.
The country needs an articulate, erudite man or woman of impeccable character to be at the apex of the CDPF.
Through my fault, Through my fault, through my most previous fault . In other words the seeds we sow are the fruits we harvest. I hope the police of Dominica didn’t help plant the harvest we are having just to protect one evil man