By LEDEDRA MARCHE

Senior FN Reporter

lededra@nasguard.com

In their campaign to rid the streets of Grand Bahama of unlawful firearms, the Royal Bahamas Police Force put another one in the books on Friday when officers on patrol were tipped off early that morning.

Police say shortly after 12:00 a.m., officers acting on inquiries in the Queen's Cove area discovered a black .40 Smith and Wesson high point pistol.

The firearm was reportedly found through a dirt road and wrapped in a dirty shirt.

The find, police say, is a welcome one as it is one of the dozens of firearms recently taken off the streets.

Just last Monday, an Oates Lane man, who police from Drug Enforcement Unit stopped in the Cabot Drive area over the weekend had his day in court before a Freeport Magistrate on firearm-related charges.

Kristin Jones, 20, was charged with possession of an unlicenced firearm and possession of ammunition and the allegations stemmed from an incident on Friday, June 19, around 7:30 p.m. when officers, while on patrol in the Cabot Drive area, stopped a 1999 burgundy Ford Escort that was allegedly being driven at a high rate of speed.

During a search of the interior of the vehicle, officers reportedly discovered a black and silver Smith and Wesson .40 pistol with five live rounds of .40 ammunition. He pleaded not guilty to both charges and was granted bail totalling $7,500.

The week before that, a local police constable found himself on the wrong side of the law when he appeared before a Freeport Magistrate to answer to similar charges.

Police Constable #3197 Kenroy Woolery, 25, was charged with two counts of possession of an unlicensed firearm after police say they found and seized a .380 high point pistol and a .357 revolver at an apartment complex on Bahama Reef Boulevard.

Woolery pleaded not guilty to the offences and was granted $10,000 bail.

Another two males were arrested for firearm possession two days earlier during "Operation Awakening," the two-day weekend operation which included a number of road blocks in the Freeport city area and throughout the western end of the island.

They were among 28 arrested for a number of offences — the majority of them were cited for traffic infractions.

Police revealed earlier this year that it is possible that a number of the firearms that are retrieved on the side of the road or other peculiar places are strategically being placed at the locations.

However, once they get into police custody, a background investigation is carried out and they are turned over to forensics for testing.

The firearms are checked for fingerprints and a ballistics examination is performed to determine whether it was used in any crimes on the island or anywhere in The Bahamas.

Back in March, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Marvin Dames who is in charge of the Grand Bahama District spoke of several initiatives his officers are engaged in and have been since the beginning of the year to deal with the rise of violent crime, including the Anti-Violence Intervention Program (AVIP).

"It's a program designed by the officers here on the island of Grand Bahama to deal with the immediate crime concerns that are taking place throughout the island... It brings together all of the policing responses in unison, and so we have all of the divisions feeding into this program," he said.

Since its inception, Dames said they had taken over 20 firearms and a significant amount of ammunition off the streets in Grand Bahama over the last few months.