CASTRIES, St. Lucia--Prime Minister (PM) Allen Chastanet has announced that citizen safety will see twelve game changers in three focus areas.
In a post on his official Facebook page Monday, Chastanet said the goal is a major reduction of serious crime by the end of the strategy term in 2020; and a reduction in repeat offending by that same year.
“This is a radical and long overdue approach that will focus on better policing, greater efficiency in the legal system and the rehabilitation of offenders,” he observed as he met with senior Security officials for a weekly security briefing.
According to the PM, crime prevention and detection will benefit from a stronger police presence in “hotspot” areas.
“We will be increasing foot and mobile patrols on the frontline where they are needed most. Greater surveillance is being made available to the police with the rolling out of the EC $1.8 million Safe City [closed-circuit TV – Ed.] CCTV Project in Castries,” he disclosed.
Chastanet said his administration does not believe that incarceration is the only solution to reducing crime in St. Lucia.
In this regard, he explained that rehabilitation will be a key component in crime reduction aimed at preventing re-offending upon discharge.
He stated that inmates at the Bordelais Correctional Facility and juveniles at the Boys Training Centre will be offered enhanced life skills, literacy and numeracy schooling, substance abuse counselling and Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) certification programmes to give offenders the skills to re-enter society with better options for employment, thereby reducing the lure of criminal activity.
Chastanet recalled that since assuming office, his administration has made a number of integral interventions to improve justice and security in St. Lucia.
He said these include:
* appointing a Director of Public Prosecution;
* reopening the Forensic Laboratory;
* installing high definition CCTV cameras in the city;
* repairing police stations across the island;
* recruiting over 150 new police officers;
* providing new police vehicles and motorcycles;
* repairing the broken radar system in Vieux Fort;
* carrying out rehabilitation of courthouses;
* repairing Marine Patrol boats; and
* signing security memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with key allies.
~ St. Lucia Times ~
