THE relaxed nature of rural residents is making them the target of criminals.

Head of the Northern Division of the Royal Barbados Police Force, Acting Senior Superintendent William Yearwood, admitted the increase in crime in St Joseph was causing concern for police, especially burglaries and domestic violence.

He highlighted these during a town hall meeting at the Grantley Adams Memorial School yesterday.

Yearwood said some residents had made themselves "soft" targets for criminals by leaving windows open when they were not at home.

They were also facilitating criminals by having louvres or flaps that could easily be accessed to reach the doorknob or lock, he said.

"Our concern is that for 2007 there are increases in burglaries from 19 to 24, thefts from 14 to 22, minor assaults and woundings from 23 to 40 and criminal damage from one to six,"
Yearwood stated.

He also reported that there were two aggravated burglaries in which weapons were used.

Yearwood told the residents who attended the meeting with several officers from the Northern Division: "We wish you to make your homes safer by making them hard targets for entry."

He also spoke about the trend of resorting to violence to settle domestic disputes, including woundings. Given this situation he felt there was a need for a greater anger management and conflict resolution.

The meeting was part of a series in which police were discussing concerns and solutions.

Yearwood said that in 2006, there were 93 crimes in the District "F" area (St Joseph),
out of 1 681 in the overall Northern Division.

Last year there were 123 recorded crimes in District F, out of 1 599 recorded in the Northern Division.

The figure for the first quarter of this year is 29, compared to 24 for the same period last year.

trevoryearwood@nationnews.com