BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – ACTING (Ag.) Commissioner of Police Stafford Liburd claimed that allegations made by Senator Nigel Carty, which insinuate efforts are being made to conceal the true state of major crimes in the Federation and the recall of Kittitian police officers from the Nevis Division, are false.
Senator Carty had made the allegations while as a guest on Freedom Radio.
“There are major crimes happening every day in this country, and the Government has sought rather than to come out and say to people that we have these issues and let us get together and find real solutions for these problems, the Government has opted to engage in a public relations stunt to fool people about what’s happening in the country.”
Contacted on Sunday (Nov. 1), the Ag. Commissioner was very cautious in his response to the allegations, stressing that he would only be speaking on behalf of the Police Force and not for the Government.
“There has not been any directive given by any Government personnel or office restricting our reporting on crime, and never have I as Commissioner issued any such instruction. We have just had a new Public Relations Officer, a civilian, and as we are going through the teething process of adjusting, we will improve.
“I want to make it known that it was never our desire not to tell the public about any crime. But not every single crime that occurred we have been able to get out to the public as quickly as we would have liked.”
In the recent past, many serious crimes had gone unreported by the police and citizens were only made ware of them via social media, including the shooting of a student by a police officer in Nevis and also a couple of gun-related robberies on that island.
Liburd admitted to the shortfall in the Force and assured that plans are on the front burner to rectify the situation.
“Indeed, there is need for us to be more proactive and we are moving in that direction of reporting not only crime but also other matters regarding policing in the country. That is our role. That is why we are moving our Public Relations Department in that direction so that the public can be better informed.”
The Top Cop also referenced a statement recently made by Dr. Timothy Harris.
“I want to note here that the Minister of National Security, the Honourable Prime Minister, said publicly that we must make the statistics available to the public and we must ensure that the statistics are not merely for police and merely for us to disseminate to the general public when it is convenient, but we must develop a system of reporting the statistics publicly. That also involves exposing and demonstrating our awareness to have crime reported.”
Senator Carty had also alleged that the “...second point in the Six-Point Plan is that they have recalled all the Kittitian policemen who were in Nevis to St. Kitts, thereby leading to a massive reduction in the capacity of the Police Force and the tactical capability of the police in Nevis. That is why we are going to see more and more on both islands, but Nevis in particular”.
In response, Liburd said there is no truth to Carty’s allegation and that the Police Force has always been engaged in the transfer of its personnel to various Divisions, including the one in Nevis, and that it is part of the Force Policy.
“In terms of the movement of officers, we had transferred persons prior to the last elections to and from St. Kitts. We have done it before and we will do it again. During the post General Election period, we had transferred a number of persons from St. Kitts to Nevis and also from Nevis to St. Kitts. When I looked at the background of all the officers, I found that they are tactical-trained persons who had gone across to Nevis and also tactical-trained persons had come to St. Kitts.”
The Ag. Commissioner claimed that there is nothing wrong in the transferring of officers and that many of them had even requested extensions when transferred.
“There is no set policy in the length of time that an officer would have to spend when transferred from one Division to another, especially in the case of St. Kitts to Nevis and vice versa. For example, there were officers who we had sent to Nevis for a three-month duration, but they would have adjusted very quickly and become so involved and had made significant contributions that we had allowed them to remain over there on request for extension.”
He however pointed out that many Nevisians are not interested in becoming members of the Police Force; a view that was also stated by a retired Senior Officer who claimed that it was as a result of the establishing of the Four Seasons Resort and the increase in construction on the island.
“Nevisians are not joining the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force in numbers as the High Command would desire. Previous Commissioners had to go to other OECS countries to recruit persons. We do not have to do that now. However, we are still accepting OECS and other CARICOM nationals, but most of them would have already been residing in the Federation,” he added.
The Top Cop also pointed out that in addition to locals, the Police Force is currently comprised of “Guyanese, Jamaicans and Haitians, as well as an individual from Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic”.
Reiterating his position on the allegations, the Acting Commissioner maintained that “there is no truth to them. But, as I said before, we are working assiduously to get information out to the public in a timely manner through our Public Relations Department”.
