CASTRIES, St. Lucia, August 16th 2011 – Recent violent crimes are of grave concern to communities across the eastern Caribbean. Increased gun violence, armed robberies and gang related activity in some island states, are part of increased crime rates. The U.S. Embassy is working with our partners in the Caribbean to respond to local and regional security concerns under President Obama’s Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.
During the week of August 22-26, the U.S. Embassy is supporting Consultations on Community Policing in cooperation with the Royal St. Lucia Police Force. In the consultations, U.S. and St. Lucian police and security experts will work side-by-side to discuss how to implement effective community policing tactics and share best practices from around the world. The speakers from the United States are Robert White, Chief of Police for Louisville, Kentucky, and Public Safety Consultant Robert Olson, former Chief of Police for Minneapolis, Minnesota and Corpus Christi, Texas.
During their week-long visit to St. Lucia, Chiefs White and Olson will meet with police and prison officials, judges, lawyers, teachers, business leaders, NGO representatives and civil society stakeholders. Consultations will be held in Castries, Soufriere and Vieux Fort, and will explore the important roles of police and community leaders in ensuring citizen safety.
Members of the media are invited to send representatives to cover two events in this week of activity:
On Monday, August 22 at 9:00 a.m. at the Chesterfield Conference Room, Police HQ, Castries for a meeting between Chiefs Olson and White with Security Minister Guy Mayers and Police Commissioner Francois.
On Friday, August 26 at 12:00 p.m., there will be a press conference in the Chesterfield Conference Room, Police HQ, Castries. Speakers at this press event will be Minister Mayers, Commissioner Francois, Chief Olson, Chief White and Rebecca Ross, Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy to the Eastern Caribbean.
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St. Lucia News