A Firearms Unit is in the making...says CoP
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TWENTY officers, including two females, of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force (RSCNPF) were yesterday (Jun. 11) presented certificates following their successful participation of a US-sponsored Firearms Trafficking Workshop.
The four-day Workshop was conducted at the Police Training Complex in Basseterre by an eight-member team from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (AFT) of the United States of America, which was headed by Ollie Mier, Chief of the Caribbean Operations Branch.
At yesterday’s Closing Ceremony, which was also held at the Police Training Complex, Assistant Commissioner of Police with responsibility for Operations, Vaughan Henderson spoke to the main purpose of the Workshop and its benefits.
“Central to the Workshop is the partnership between St. Kitts and Nevis and the ATF by using critical advancement in technology to share information so as to establish the origin of firearms that were recovered.
“By doing this, we can establish all the different handlers of the recovered firearms, which will hopefully lead to the perpetrators of these heinous crimes.”
He declared that the Workshop was a timely one as it relates to the proliferation of firearms trafficking firearms in the Caribbean region.
Remarking on the Workshop, Mier also spoke to the partnership between the two entities.
“St. Kitts and Nevis and Alcohol, Firearms and Explosives are new partners in combating violence and firearm strategy, and it is in this theme that I would like to continue because now you have a true partner to support you and work with you…”
The Branch Chief complimented the participants and stated that among the topics discussed were Firearms Identification, Firearms Traffic, Integrated Ballistic and Education System, Proper Handling of Firearm, the DC Sniper Investigation, and Cyber and Social Media Resources.
Mier emphatically stated that the group of officers are now “better, well-versed and ready” to execute what they learnt.
In his brief remarks, Acting Commissioner Stafford Liburd admitted that there are too many gun-related crimes that have led to the demise of many young men in the Federation.
“I must acknowledge that this Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis is concerned and we are a bit troubled by the deaths we have in this country. And the deaths, by majority and clearly, are by firearms. Hence, we must endeavour to look forward into firearms than just merely traditionally, like several years back merely by just having a firearm, seeing someone convicted and that is the end of it. We must do much more!
The Commissioner (Ag) informed that the RSCNPF would be establishing a new unit in its fight against crime, especially those that are gun-related.
“The Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force will adopt the proactive approach of establishing a Firearms Unit. Something which is already partially underway, I would say, but formalise it.
“This will bring further training to us. It will cement our relationship with the US in this area. It will develop the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force that we must recognise that we are part of the Caribbean, we are part of law enforcement and we are required to share our knowledge and disclose certain aspects when we recover firearms.”
The feature address was delivered by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Osmond Petty.
He pointed out that several studies have shown that firearms are the weapons of choice of serious crimes in the Caribbean, while noting a study by Trinidadian Criminologist Dr. Randy Seepersad found that shootings and murders committed by firearms steadily increased in the region during 2000 and 2010.
“In 2015,” he said, “the Caribbean region faces chronic and persistent levels of crime and armed violence. I have just returned from a meeting of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative where it was reported that Caribbean states have reported an average homicide rate of 39 per 100 000. Seventy percent of these homicides are committed with a firearm.”
The Permanent Secretary noted the reports indicated that hand-in-hand with increase in violent crimes throughout the Caribbean is the rise in armed violence and firearm-related crimes.
“Here in St. Kitts and Nevis, we are right up there with the statistics. Just recently as Tuesday night there was a shooting incident that left two persons hospitalised,” he added.
He also noted that the trafficking of drugs is one of the major factors that facilitates the availability of firearms, and that statistics in the US revealed that the share of illicit narcotics transiting the Caribbean en-route to that North American country has risen from approximately five percent of the total in 2011 to approximately 17 percent in 2014.
Petty stated that the public needs to see and or hear about evidence of firearms that were traced back to their origins.
He however is of the view that with the new partnership between the RSCNPF and the AFT, as well as the formation of the proposed Firearms Unit, the needs of the public would be realised.
