Nevis, West Indies. ?A Non-Tourist-Trap? Blog About Nevis.

Caribbean Nation Still Troubled With Crime Rate

Basseterre, St. Kitts - Nevis
March 11, 2010 (SKNIS)

The Government has unveiled plans to carry out “a comprehensive review” of current crime fighting initiatives and has signaled further resource commitment to ensure all residents of St. Kitts and Nevis can live in peace.

While reading the Throne Speech at Wednesday’s opening of a new Parliament, Governor General His Excellency Sir Cuthbert Sebastian, said in recent years, Government has introduced a separate gun control and anti-gang unit, mounted closed circuit television cameras around the capital Basseterre, strengthened crime laws and established K-9 units in both the Police and Defence Force.

He revealed that measures are in place to determine the impact of various anti-crime strategies “with a view to evaluating their effectiveness, committing more resources to the initiatives that are achieving results and developing new community-based approaches to the fight against crime.”

The security forces have also been targeted to ensure that they are adequately prepared to police in a rapidly developing society.

“We have exposed our law officers to advanced training in the use of the latest law enforcement methods and technologies and have procured technical assistance from law enforcement agencies in advanced countries to assist the police in the implementation of a crime fighting plan,” the Governor General stressed, while speaking in the National Assembly.

“… We have improved the police facilities through the renovation of the Basseterre Police Station and the upgrading of the Frigate Bay Police Station (and) we have started the construction of a new Police Station at Dieppe Bay. … Moreover, we intend to implement an EU (European Union)-funded project to comprehensively improve and upgrade the accommodation and facilities of the Police and Defence Force.”

Governor General Sebastian announced that as part of this project, Government is pursuing a proposal to build a new Fire Station and a new Police Training Academy at Lime Kiln. The property that currently houses the station and training school will be transformed, as residential units for the police will be constructed.

The announcement comes on the heels of a consultation exercise with security forces by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security Honourable Sam Condor. Minister Condor pledged to work closely with authorities to ensure they are equipped with the necessary crime fighting tools and can respond to the challenges of the new economic landscape of St. Kitts and Nevis.

It is anticipated that the allocation of additional resources will also be laid out when the Budget for the fiscal year 2010-2011 is presented in the National Assembly in the coming weeks.

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2. St. Kitts - Nevis Still Rife With Violent Crime
3. St. Kitts - Nevis Aims To Step Up Crime Fighting
4. Canadian Police To Help Fight Crime in St. Kitts - Nevis
5. PAM Party Leader Wants Crime Fighting To Be A Priority

Gun Crime In St. Kitts - Nevis

Basseterre, St.Kitts - Nevis
People’s Action Movement
March 08, 2010

This past  weekend  saw the murder of yet another youth. Denzil “Para” Williams became the 8th homicide for the year. This follows the murder the weekend before of a not yet eighteen (18) year old in a brazen drive by shooting that left three others injured.

“This latest homicide epitomizes the lackadaisical and apathetic attitude to crime fighting that has become the  hallmark of this Labour government,” said People’s Action Movement Deputy Political Leader Hon. Shawn K. Richards.

With record numbers of  homicides and shootings each of the last 6 years the only response that is forthcoming from government is that they are not responsible for crime.

MP Richards blasted the labour government on its dismissive attitude towards crime

“Crime is everywhere we are told so what if we have it here. It is everybody’s responsibility to stop crime we are told but this government is conspicuously missing from inclusion in everybody,” said 2nd term Constituency #5  Representative MP Shawn Richards.

The government has been long criticized for it’s failure on the fight against crime as well as it’s refusal to accept any sort of responsibility for the record number of homicides, burglaries and robberies over the last 10 years.  In place of transparency and collaboration the government has been accused of  deliberatly refusing to be truthful about the extent of the crisis.

“The country is always in the dark when it comes to information regarding the true state of affairs when it comes to crime. We are always mislead with sugar-coated statistics that often does not reflect the true state of affairs,” said MP Richards. “That is why we are never clear on how many robberies, burglaries, rapes or non lethal attacks happen each year,”.

MP Richards continued, “The army and strike force were specifically ordered and sent to patrol in Half Way Tree on polling day in military fatigues, bullet proof vests and bearing assault rifles to protect illegal voters from St. Pauls but are barely present in well-known gang and crime hotspots,”.

Since the infamous slaying of popular radio personality Lorenzo Greene and his wife Michelle in 2005 there has been an amazing (91) ninety-one murders in the federation of St.Kitts-Nevis. Reports have indicated that of the 91 murders less than 20% have been detected or solved. Of the 8 homicides for this year thus far and the 27 murders last year less than 4 have been solved. The murder rate in SKN is not only among the highest in the world but the  detection rate is among the lowest.

Related posts:

1. St. Kitts - Nevis Records Murder #20 For 2009
2. Christian Council Calls For Anti-Violence Support
3. St. Kitts - Nevis PM Makes False Claims
4. Reform of Security Forces Top Priority for PAM
5. St. Kitts - Nevis Records Third Murder Of 2009

PM Douglas - Minister Of National Security
Photo By Erasmus Williams

Basseterre, St. Kitts - Nevis
January 18, 2010 (CUOPM)

Government continues to work overtime to rid the local society of crime and gang violence that threatens the people and could scare away visitors.

“We have stepped up our patrols, we have introduced a gun control unit and an anti-gang unit, we have strengthened our laws that penalize violent crimes, we have introduced close circuit TV as both a deterrent and the means of crime detection, we have established K-9 (or Dog)Units in both Police and Defence Force; we have improved the police facilities through the renovation of the Basseterre Police Station and the upgrading of the Frigate Bay Police Station and have started the construct of a new Police Station at Dieppe Bay,” said Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas.

Unveiling his 55-page manifesto ahead of next Monday’s general election, Dr. Douglas, the National Political Leader of the governiong St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party said law enforcement officers have been exposed  to advanced training in the use of the latest law enforcement methods and technologies.

“We will continue to procure technical assistance from law enforcement agencies in advanced countries to assist the police in the implementation of a crime fighting plan,” said Dr. Douglas, who expressed confidence that these measures will bear great fruit in the short-term and further indicated that more resources will be committed to the further modernisation of the security forces in the upcoming year and beyond.

He said the government was also dealing with the root cause of crime by strengthening the local school system with a view to dramatically reduce the dropout rate.

“We are providing training in parenting to young parents to help them better discharge their functions as parents. We are strengthening the guidance counselling functions at our schools and we are putting in place the appropriate mechanism for the early identification of youth at risk with a view to intervening pre-emptively to assist these young people overcome their problems and grow into responsible members of society,” said Prime Minister Douglas.

He said however, government remains committed to the view that crime fighting is societal endeavour.

“The Police cannot do it alone. The Government cannot do it alone. I urge all members of society to join the fight against crime. I urge our families to take their responsibility for the young people under their care; I urge our schools to be more vigilant in monitoring our children and initiating action in respect of early signs of deviant behaviour or psychological problems; I urge our church to enhance their outreach activities with a view to bringing more of our young to a recognition of their duty to the Almighty God; and I urge all of our citizens to participate in the crusade against crime by assisting our Law Enforcement Officers and providing timely information to them as they seek to arrest this plague,” said Dr. Douglas, who is also Minister of National Security.

He disclosed that it is intended through community policing initiatives and through the work of a strengthened National Crime Commission to provide more opportunities for all members of the society to become fully engaged in the fight against crime.

Related posts:

1. St. Kitts - Nevis Citizens Urged To Join Crime Fight
2. St. Kitts - Nevis Pledges Money To Fight Violent Crime
3. St. Kitts - Nevis Reviews Crime Fighting Strategies
4. New St. Kitts - Nevis Police Crime Fighting Initiatives
5. Canadian Police To Help Fight Crime in St. Kitts - Nevis