Again, cops tout cherry-picked stats

For more than four years, The BVI Beacon has been requesting comprehensive crime statistics from the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force.

And for more than four years, the force has not provided them.

On Tuesday, the public instead received another high-level summary — this one containing a scattering of numbers purporting to show that crime rates stabilised in 2025.

However, the summary omitted key details about various categories of serious crime and left broader trends impossible to independently assess.

‘Year in Review’

In its “Year in Review” press release, the RVIPF reported that “total recorded crime” rose by just one percent last year, with 1,642 offences compared to 1,631 in 2024.

“The year 2025 began with a concerning upward trend in criminal activity,” the release states. “Through determined and tactical policing, the RVIPF succeeded in stabilising the trajectory.”

However, the force also acknowledged that “overall crime” in 2025 remained 24 percent above the five-year average.

In the absence of comprehensive crime statistics — which are regularly published in countries including the United Kingdom and the United States — the public will have to take the RVIPF’s word for it.

Since at least 2021, the Beacon has requested such statistics repeatedly, but police have not provided them despite promising to do so.

This week, Police Information Officer Akia Thomas-Nero, who herself has been promising statistics for more than two years, did not respond to a request for an update.

Firearms

The press release issued this week did not include the 2025 rates of murder, attempted murder, assault, drug possession, gun possession or various other categories of serious crime.

It did, however, note that all murders and attempted murders last year were committed with a firearm.

Guns were also used in 89 percent of robberies, according to the release.

“The most alarming finding of the 2025 report is the pervasive and lethal role of illegal firearms,” the force stated. “The data reveals an unequivocal link between gun availability and serious violence.”

Officers reported recovering 24 illegal firearms and 1,282 rounds of ammunition during the year.

Additionally, 2,611 kilograms of illicit drugs were seized in 2025, with “several individuals” charged in connection with the offences, according to police.

They did not provide information about the type of drugs seized or how many people were charged.

Some crimes up

Police also provided broad information about the rates of some crimes.

Robberies rose by 39 percent in 2025, while motor vehicle thefts increased by four percent — indicating “a trend of opportunistic street‑level crime,” according to the release.

“Minor offences” — which police did not define — climbed 16 percent, and incidents of property damage were up 28 percent, the RVIPF stated.

The release did not disclose the numbers of reported offences in these categories.

A “high level” of assaults also remains a major concern, according to police.

Though they did not provide numbers, they said 49 percent of all assaults in 2025 were domestic-related, reflecting what they described as a “deeply serious societal challenge.”

Declines

Police also highlighted areas where crime fell.

Sexual offences dropped by 40 percent compared to 2024 and now sit 25 percent below the five-year average, they said.

The force attributed this decline to stronger safeguarding, improved reporting mechanisms and enhanced victim support.

Burglaries also saw reductions. Commercial and storage burglaries fell by 53 percent, while residential burglaries declined by 30 percent, according to police.

But here again, the release did not disclose the numbers of reported offences.

Selective stats

The RVIPF has long taken a selective approach to releasing crime statistics. Last April, for instance, police took a similar tack in a pair of press releases.

In the first, they touted a first-quarter drop in reports of sexual offences, serious assaults and burglaries.

But the next day, they released another statement acknowledging a “net rise in overall crime” during the same quarter driven in part by a 100 percent increase in robberies and sharp spikes in vehicle thefts, property damage and minor assaults.

Last September, Governor Daniel Pruce took a similar approach, noting in a press conference that robberies were up 131 percent over the five-year average from January to September 2025, while serious assaults rose by nine percent, motor vehicle theft climbed 15.5 percent and minor assaults increased by eight percent.

Focus for 2026

This week, the RVIPF said its goal for 2026 is to turn “the plateau into a sustained decline.”

To that end, police outlined priorities including intensified operations to remove illegal firearms, increased visible policing in high-volume areas, expanded intelligence-led investigations targeting organised crime groups and repeat offenders, and deeper community engagement to address factors that contribute to criminal behaviour.

Police stressed that enforcement alone will not resolve the territory’s crime challenges and called on residents to report suspicious activity and support victims.

“The data from 2025 proves that we can stem the tide of rising crime,” said acting interim Police Commissioner Richard Ullger. “The task for 2026 is clear: We must not just hold the line but actively reclaim the safety and peace that define these beautiful Virgin Islands. This is a mission to which the RVIPF is wholly dedicated, but we do not operate in a vacuum and therefore success depends on the active support of every member of our community.”