Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 13, 2013 (SKNIS): The public may soon see more K-9 police units on the streets as the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force seeks to expand its operations.
Commissioner of Police Celvin G. Walwyn told SKNIS the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) recently did an assessment of the local law enforcement agency and identified the usefulness of a greater K-9 presence.
Currently the police have six tracking dogs capable of detecting illegal drugs, firearms and ammunition, explosives and people. Two dogs owned by the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine are often called into action under the Island Constable provision, which confers the same powers of the police when working a crime scene.
One of the police dogs called Prego has made local headlines recently in two separate cases. The first involved the case of a missing child in October, and just this week, Prego tracked alleged robbers to a home where a shotgun and a handgun were also recovered.
“Prego has also found other firearms in Cayon [and] in Newtown so we have a dog that works and works real hard,” Commissioner Walwyn stated.
Similar success stories have come out of Nevis where Lori and her handler Constable Derell Boon have recovered a number of firearms including one recently in Cotton Ground.
“Because of our efforts and because of our progress, the ATF – one of our international partners – in their assessment is going to try to get us some more dogs in the furtherance of our fight against crime and the locating of weapons that are used to commit these crimes,” Commissioner Walwyn explained.
Additionally, the police will work on acquiring vehicles for specialized units including the Violent Crimes Unit, Criminal Investigations Department and Special Victims Unit.
The police commissioner stated that the police force cherishes the relationship it has with its local, regional and international partners and looked forward to a growing partnership.
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