BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - ATTORNEY GENERAL, the Hon. Vincent Byron believes that a multi-sectoral approach is needed to deal with the rising youth crime occurring in St. Kitts and Nevis.
This comes as research has shown that youth in the Federation are four to five times more likely to be involved in gang-related activities.
Addressing a recent regional workshop held in Basseterre, Byron who is also the Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, explained that like many would have previously heard, calls are being made for a multi-sectoral approach from Departments and Ministries of Government, to work together to deal with this problem.
The AG noted that approaches have been made to strengthen the security forces within the Federation, including the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force.
He also noted that some segments of the community have been asking what could be done to make the laws of the country more “draconian” while still focusing on crime prevention.
One prong of the approach AG Bryon pointed to was the establishment of the Criminal Justice Strategic Board (CJSB).
“This Board, the CJSB, is in itself a multi-sectoral approach to justice; and I would want to point out that the board is made up of the Police - where the Commissioner of Police sits; we have the Superintendent of Prisons; the Courts - where we have the Senior Magistrate; the DPP's office. We also have, though, the Education Department…”
Established in 2015, the CJSB seeks to effectively and efficiently curb the persistent crime problem in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Its formation was part of the Police Forces Six Point Plan of action.
According to a St. Kitts-Nevis Information Service (SKNIS) release, Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of National Security, Osmond Petty was quoted as saying: “The establishment of the Criminal Justice Strategic Board is an activity mentioned in the Police Six Point Plan but obviously this is not something that the police alone would be implementing, as it is part of the big picture in terms of what is being done, through collaboration with other agencies. The CJSB was established to develop a protocol to the judiciary, to ensure that backlogs of certain cases are disposed of in a timely manner in order to bring perpetrators to justice speedily and enforce curfews.”
The Attorney General also pointed to the Probation and the Child Protection Departments as two agencies that are represented on the Board, along with a Juvenile Center.
This he said highlights that “We have an agency network that meets from time to time to discuss the challenges that we have in the criminal justice system…”
To this end, they are looking at the establishment of a statistical framework to highlight critical data that is not normally scrutinized.
.jpg)