Statement by Hon. Prime Minister on Safety and Security Initiative in St Kitts at the Sitting of the National Assembly on Tuesday 17th November, 2015
Mr Speaker Sir, with your leave I rise to make a statement regarding our efforts to restore St Kitts and Nevis to the safe and secure paradise it once was. Today is not necessary to relate the litany of problems that inherited in the agencies of law enforcement of the country. Suffice it to say, the evidence of dilapidation, from our Coast Guard headquarters to the overcrowding of our prisons, the neglect of the Fire and Rescue Services, the scandalously low morale in the Police and Defence Force, all pointed to the crisis in law and order in the country on February 16, 2015.
Results of St Kitts and Nevis Standing on Homicide
The statistics on homicides in the country and its notoriety status as being in the top ten most homicidal countries in the world take the evidence from anecdotal to empirical. I should indicate the following facts. St Kitts and Nevis ranked 8th, 9th, 1st, and 8th, from 2010 to 2014. In 2012, St Kitts and Nevis at number 1, far exceeded Jamaica at number 10, Belize at number 3, and Honduras which consistently took the top spot.
I make these factual references to advance the point that the crisis and haemorrhaging of law enforcement which aggravated over the last ten to twelve years could not be resolved in eight months of the new Team Unity Administration. Nonetheless, I am pleased to report that over the last eight months considerable progress has been evidenced in our efforts to reduce incidences of serious crimes in the Federation.
In this regard, I am pleased to report the following:
For the month of October 2015, overall serious crimes were down 16.7% percent. For the period January to October 2015, serious crimes comprising of such broad categories as offences against the person, offences against morality, offences against property and offences against unlawful authority are down 20.1 percent relative to 2014. While this trend is in the right direction, we remain concerned about the level of homicides and gun related incidents in the Federation. I make further factual point that although homicides are unacceptably high since the launch of our six point plan, the homicides rate dropped from an average of three per month to one per month. We would wish to bring this to zero.
Every life lost is a burden for all of us. And all of us must do our part to fret our criminals in our midst.
The Team Unity Administration has been giving all resources we can to restore the safety and security of our Federation. We will never shirk from this primordial responsibility.
Our police force has been neglected in the past and this Government is determined to invest heavily in the police to ensure they are equipped in the fight against crime. In the past three (3) weeks alone the Police have demonstrated their commitment to the cause. The utilization of intelligence-led policing combined with targeted operations have realized significant quantities of foreign compressed marijuana totalling 547 lbs at a street value of EC$8.21M, cured locally grown marijuana totalling 95 lbs at a street value of EC$712,500 and 1.064 Kilo of Cocaine at street value of EC$93,247. Every law enforcement officer knows that Lieutenant Colonel Wallace, Commissioner Stafford Liburd, ACP Queeley and Henderson have repeatedly said that there is a strong correlation between drugs and guns and homicides. Indeed many of the violence and homicides are linked to drug production and trade.
These developments show undoubtedly that the trade in illegal drugs of all types is fuelling violence and is inextricably linked with the level of homicides in this country. The police have demonstrated the efficacy of the “Six Point Plan” and these recent events have demonstrated their ability to work in unity with the other members of the law enforcement community, the Defence Force, the Coastguard, Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise and the Prison Service. As we speak, there are Customs Officers being trained alongside their police colleagues in a Serious Crimes Investigation Course and in order to improve cooperation between us and our neighbours, we are pleased to announce that three (3) police officers from Antigua and Barbuda are also part of this training.
Over the past five months, the Government has enlisted the expert services of Bramshill Policing Advisers of the United Kingdom. The consultants are led by two former Senior British Police Officers, Mr. Steve France –Sergeant and Mr. Dave King, both with extensive backgrounds in Operational Policing and Training, both in the UK and internationally, one of whom has extensive experience in homicide investigation in the region. They have been deploying other UK based trainers and mentors amongst members of our police force in both St Kitts and Nevis, particularly focusing on homicide investigations and introducing modern systems and process.
As has been stated repeatedly by the Bramshill Policing Advisers, the problems we face have not manifested themselves overnight and nor can the police be expected to stop them overnight. This is not a matter for the police alone and this is why we have introduced the Criminal Justice Strategic Board (CJSB) which was launched last week Wednesday, 11th November. The Bramshill Policing Advisers have been very instrumental in providing documentation and advice to guide the work of the CJSB as an inter-agency network that will work together with the same common objective to improve the criminal justice system
The Bramshill Policing Advisers have been involved in a wide range of activities designed to enhance the capabilities of the police with respect to detection, conducting investigations and solving crimes. These initiatives include:
Improved Investigation intoHomicide and Serious Crime
They have delivered:
Homicide and serious Crime training (23 police officers) and mentoring
Generic serious Crime Investigation Course (20 Cross-agency officers)
Investigative Interviewing Course (20 cross-agency officers)
Reinforcement of pocketbook policy in Violent Crimes Unit (VCU)
Introduction of Operational Orders in VCU
Introduction of alibi destruction
Introduction of ‘leaflet drops’ alongside house to house
Mentoring in workplace for VCU in both St Kitts and Nevis
Reviews of 20 unsolved cases – one is currently with a forensic laboratory for analysis
Training will continue in 2016.
Strategic Management and Policy Development
The Bramshill Policing Advisers have contributed significantly to the development of a Three (3) Year Policing Strategy including performance accountability throughout the organisation. The Police Strategic Plan (2015-2018) and Improved Service Delivery Plan will be distributed by the end of this month.
The BPA have also provided guidance with:
Annual Policing Plan
Force Restructure including policy ownership
Police Training School Curriculum Development
Weekly management accountability reporting template
In the coming months, the BPA will be extensively involved in the implementation of:
A revised promotion system in the Police Force
Appraisal system
Skills profile audit
Staffing census and audit
Media and Communication Strategy
A directorate within the Police will be formed, comprising of a multi-disciplined team from Training, Personnel and Professional Standards/Internal Affairs and will be the organisational Inspectorate of the Police Force. They will set standards, oversee currency of policies, examine policy requirements and conduct inspections of Police departments, other directorates and individual performance at every level. Annual appraisals of all staff will contain measurable targets that they must achieve should they wish to advance or stay within the profession. Supervisors at every level will have team targets and senior managers will have departmental and directorate targets. All of these will measure their compliance and effectiveness against the Ministerial priorities and complete the circle of national accountability for public safety of all of its citizens and visitors. These initiatives will make the police force more accountable to the citizens of our Federation.
Apart from the provision of consultancy support for the Police, Government has invested heavily in providing additional resources for the Police in the fight against crime, by providing state-of –the-art forensic equipment, including a ballistic comparison microscope for the Forensics Department.
Additionally, a further project is on-going to enhance the Police K9 Unit by the acquisition of 6 new dogs and training for the K9 departments of both the Police and Her Majesty’s Customs.
Mr Speaker, I give the public the assurance that we will get better results over time. We have a Plan and a Strategy. We are working for you. You can do your part by reporting illegal activity in your home, your community, your country. The life you save may very well be yours.
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