Newly appointed board members of CJSB
Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 12, 2015 (RSCNPF): “The launch of the Criminal Justice Strategic Board (CJSB) in St. Kitts and Nevis is a clear indication that the nation is serious with regards to crime fighting from a holistic approach”, remarked Assistant Commissioner of Police who also holds responsibility for Crime, Mr. Ian Queeley.
ACP Queeley, who also serves as an appointed member of the committee, made this statement following the Board’s launch yesterday (11th November) at the Police Training Complex, Ponds Pasture, Basseterre.
He stated that, “this means that the Federation has signaled to the rest of our regional and international partners that we are taking this issue of crime fighting seriously. It underscores the point that this issue requires a holistic approach by ensuring that all the stakeholders can sit together and put strategies in place to reduce criminal activities and reduce the fear of crime within the society.”
In terms of the role of the RSCNPF as a member of the CJSB, the ACP stated that “We will spearhead all operational aspects as well as put forward recommendations that we believe will be useful to the outcome of this very important process.”
According to the newly appointed chair of the Board Attorney General, Hon. Vincent Byron, “The Criminal Justice System is made up of a number of entities, each play a different role in a system designed to address the communities’ expectations that people who break the law are punished and face appropriate consequence. It is designed to ensure that victims of crimes are treated with respect and sensitivity. It is a continuum along which the alleged offender will travel with a point of departure, dependent upon their innocence or guilt. This continuum, there are numerous different agencies that play important and varying roles. For too long, the various agencies that we have had, work as a broad ambit of the system and for too often we have had situations where each one operates by itself. The first objective that the board does is to address linking the agencies so the Criminal Justice Strategic Board then becomes an inter-agency network that we all will work together with some common objective. The reduction of crime has to be one major issue of the Board, as well as establishing certain measurable objectives in dealing with the overcrowding at Her Majesty’s Prison.”
The CJSB consists of 14 other members including Mr. Arudranauth Gossai, Acting Director of Public Prosecution, Mr. Ashiela Connor, Acting Superintendent of Prisons, Lt. Col Patrick Wallace, Commander of St. Kitts and Nevis Defence Force (SKNDF), Ms. Adele Williams, Director of New Horizons Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre (NHJRC), ACP Ian Queeley, Assistant Commission of Police-Crime, Ms. Debra Matthew, Director of Probation and Child Protection Services, Ms. Jacqueline Somersall-Berry, Director of Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Dr. Tricia Esdaille, Chief Education Officer, Mr. Everette O’Garro, Chief Fire Officer and Mr. Georid Belle, Comptroller of Customs from the St. Kitts end as well as representatives from the Nevis Island Administration(NIA) namely, Mr. Lynel Nolan, Former Police Officer, Ms. Heidi Sutton, Lawyer, Mr. David Hendrickson, Former Fire Officer; Head of Security at Nevis Air and Sea Port Authority (NASPA) and Inspector Stephen Hector, Police Prosecutor (Nevis).