by Latoya Burnham
Four tables were not enough to fully display the more than $1 million in jewellery police are still trying to identify.
And this morning as they opened to evidence lockers to victims of robberies and burglaries so they could identify their items, Sergeant Jerry Carter told reporters that because they could not display all the items in their possession, they would likely ask victims to return again during the course of the week.
“We are hoping that persons who have had jewellery stolen either from their person or from their homes to see if they can identify any of these items we have here on display.
“We don’t know how much we have but it is a great deal of jewellery, so much so that we don’t have all on display right now,” he said.
Up to after 1p.m., police indicated that more than 200 persons had passed through the viewing room to identify their stolen property, and Carter noted that the force was doing everything possible to identify all of the items and urged the public that regardless of the kind of crime or the item to report any thefts to police.
Carter acknowledged that there might still be some persons who did not report and urged them to do so, arguing that they had seen a reduction in those perpetrating crimes in the Cash for Gold scheme.
“We don’t have as many reported cases as we saw before the law was changed, so yes we have seen a reduction.”
He said they were however still warning the public to exercise caution in wearing their gold items to public events or in a manner where they could be stolen.
“We are asking persons to be cautious where they go. In cases where you go to fetes and so on, we encourage you not to wear jewellery. If you go lonesome places, don’t wear it. We want persons to be safe,” said Carter.
Police said today that the jewellery on display was valued “in the thousands and thousands of dollars”, and could perhaps be even over $1 million, as the items on display ranged from 10 to 14, 18 or 24 carat gold.
The jewellery will be on display this week until Friday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at their offices, First Floor, Sugar Cane Mall, Roebuck Street, the City, and police noted that those items they were not able to display today, due to space as well as the quantity of jewellery still in police possession, would be showcased later in the week.
Station Sargeant Bernard Hart noted that they had a number of persons identifying some of the items, one person fingering a pair of bangles they had lost, another woman pinpointing a pair of earrings from one of her several robberies, while others walked away a little dejected.
Additionally, police stated that the items on display covered a number of years, up to mid-March this year, so persons who would have had items stolen three years ago should seek to identify them among those on display. latoyaburnham@barbadostoday.bb