Prime Minister Hon. Timothy Harris
In its efforts to address the continued decades old problem of violent crimes in particular murders St. Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister Dr.Timothy Harris announced yesterday a number of crime fighting and prevention initiatives that will enhance and strengthen the criminal justice system and the St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force.
In his statement delivered at the first working session of Parliament since Team Unity was elected to office on February 16th, 2015 Prime Minister Dr. Harris announced a number of initiatives that have been implemented and some that will be implemented shortly to battle the problem of murders.
The upgrade and enhancement of the Forensic Services Unit was one of the initiatives announced by PM Harris. He stated that “The Forensic Services unit will very shortly occupy new space in the Old Magistrate Court Room at Police Headquarters, where officers will now be better able and equipped to conduct forensic tests which they were previously not able to conduct due to space and other constraints. The Criminal Record Office will also be relocated to this new location where its services to the public will be enhanced.”
Prime Minister Harris also stated that Police Personnel have been recently sent overseas for advance training in ballistics. “In July, the Force will introduce a Firearms Unit which will be trained and supported by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearm (ATF) in the United States. This unit will work closely with this US Federal Agency to trace firearms used in crime locally to determine their origin and possible entry into the Federation,” Dr. Harris announced
Among the initiatives , a joint multi-agency operations task force comprising of Police, Customs, Defence Force and Prison is being formed and will be fully functional by September 2015. This new entity will share intelligence, plan and execute joint operations to suppress crime and criminal activities.
Meanwhile St.Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris is reporting increased success in the removal of guns from the streets of the Federation. This revelation was made during the first working session of parliament under the newly elected Team UNITY Administration.
Dr Harris stated “There has been increased success in the removal of firearms from the streets. In 2014, a total of twelve (12) illegal firearms were recovered from the streets, so far for this year eleven (11) firearms have been recovered, the most recent been on June 24th in Boyd’s during a stop and search operation. These operations will continue over the foreseeable future and will be extended to other areas, including the inter-island ferry terminals and jetties.”