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Ask anyone on the street and they will tell you that in the past two weeks, the crime situation on the island seems to be out of control. In the past few weeks there have been at least two homes broken into while the owners slept, two violent home attacks where individuals were wounded and two robberies on tourists, to name a few. For the Police Department, the increase of burglaries and robberies come with the increase of commerce that occurs during the Christmas season. For that reason, the Police Department has introduced their Anti-Crime Campaign on the island. The campaign was launched on the first of December and will run until the middle of January 2012.

It's a genuine concern and in an exclusive interview with The San Pedro Sun, Mayor of San Pedro Her Worship Elsa Paz explained that indeed the crime situation is something to be worried about. "It concerns me and it's sad to say, but we don't get the needed assistance we would want to see from the Ministry of National Security," stated Mayor Paz, adding "This island keeps growing rapidly and we require more resources." However there is not much that the Mayor can do other than lobbying for more security forces since the national security falls on the elected representatives to the national assembly. "I cannot do much. Much of the responsibility falls on the Area Representative even more so since he is also the Minister of Tourism; he should be the right one to call on the Ministry of Police," explained the Mayor.

Click here for the rest of the story and more pictures in the San Pedro Sun