BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – “NO one in St. Kitts and Nevis at this particular point in time can honestly say that the police is not doing its part in fighting crime.”
This was the bold declaration made yesterday (Jul. 28) by Commissioner of Police Ian Queeley at the Prime Minister’s Monthly Press Conference.
He made the statement in response to questions posed by a member of the local media pool, which surrounded serious crime within the Federation.
“We are redoubling our efforts in every aspect. You alluded to the fact that there are 21 homicides to date and at the same time, 19 firearms were recovered from the streets. For the entire last year we recovered 21 firearms. At this point in time we have recovered 19 including three for the week already; one of which was a Mac10 with magazines and a silencer.
“So you would have seen that the police in earnest have stepped up their operations and are fulfilling that part of our mandate with crime fighting.”
The Commissioner however spoke of a problem with which the Police Force has long been faced, one which he suggested makes it difficult to solve certain crimes.
“What I want to emphasize however is something that the Prime Minister highlighted…is the fact that as part of this society, our people need to take their role seriously. There are persons witnessing these crimes in broad daylight and refusing to speak to the police. The thing is there is a marked distinction between information and evidence that which we can put before the court to secure a conviction.
“And victims themselves, who are being wounded, would tell the police outright, ‘I am not speaking to you. We are not telling you what happened.’ So then how are we to solve matters of those when we are not getting the cooperation from the victims nor the public?”
He said while plans are afoot to employ other strategies to enhance the Police Force’s crime fighting efforts, there is need for civic organizations to do their part in steering troubled youth in the right direction.
“But my plea is to the members of the community, in particular civic organizations, who we believe have influential roles to reach out to the troubled and at-risk youths and instill in them that sort of morals and values that would help them to stay away from this life of crime. At the same time, we in the security forces are prepared to do all that is humanly possible within our means.”
