For­mer Po­lice Com­mis­sion­er Gary Grif­fith says 55 more mur­ders oc­curred since he left of­fice when com­pared to the same pe­ri­od last year.

Re­spond­ing to a news­pa­per re­port which said there hasn’t been a spike in mur­ders in the last ten weeks, Grif­fith dis­put­ed as­ser­tions that COVID 19 and lock­downs were re­spon­si­ble for the dras­tic drop in crime and mur­ders in 2020.

"For the first sev­en months of 2021, we had few­er mur­ders than we had for the same pe­ri­od in 2020. In the 10 weeks or so since my con­tract end­ed, there have been 55 more mur­ders for the same pe­ri­od last year," Grif­fith added.

He al­so said, "In 18 months, or the sec­ond half of my con­tract, from Jan­u­ary 2020 - Ju­ly 2021, there was a 30 per cent drop in mur­ders for the same pe­ri­od be­fore, which rep­re­sents few­er mur­ders; 150 in 2020 and 50 in 2021."

He fur­ther con­tend­ed, "If there were few­er mur­ders in the sec­ond half of my con­tract, and 55 more than the pre­vi­ous year since I’ve not been there, isn’t that a spike?"

He ex­plained that more mur­ders for 10 weeks are al­most one more mur­der a day than for the same time last year.

"If that isn’t a spike, then what is a spike?"

He added, "Fifty-five more mur­ders for the last 10 weeks, but we are still bat­tling Covid, we still have lock­downs and we still have a cur­few. How could those con­di­tions be re­spon­si­ble for the low num­bers in the last half of my con­tract, the pre­vi­ous 18 months, but not in the last ten weeks?"

Grif­fith fur­ther added, "How can one say that the lock­downs were re­spon­si­ble for the low num­bers of 2020 in­to 2021, but ig­nore the fact that since I've not been there mur­ders in­creased by 55 for the same pe­ri­od in the pre­vi­ous year?'

He said it was re­gret­table that he had to re­spond to the news­pa­per sto­ry but said it was im­por­tant to " push back against fake news."