GREATER GEORGETOWN, Guyana – St. Lucia was well represented at a meeting of the CARICOM Standing Committee of Commissioners of Police and Military Chiefs in Guyana last week.
The extraordinary joint session, which was used to review the current crime and security environment in the region, was attended by Assistant Commissioner of Police responsible for Crime, Vernon Francois.
The meeting was mandated by CARICOM Heads of Government at their 19th Intercessional Meeting held in the Bahamas in early March.
Heads requested that the meeting identify critical national and regional anti-crime and security priorities, and brainstorm options for policing and security responses considered necessary to achieve a reduction in crime and violence in the immediate and short term, even as the Regional Crime and Security Strategy is updated for consideration at the political level.
Among the general issues reviewed were the proliferation, trafficking and use of firearms and drugs, kidnapping, murders, gangs and maritime piracy.
The outcomes of this meeting, including the possibility of introducing a regional response capacity and the enhanced use of technology to support law enforcement will inform the Crime and Security discussions due to take place at the CARICOM Meeting of the Council of Ministers responsible for National Security, both scheduled to take place in Trinidad & Tobago in April 2008.
In attendance were Security Chiefs from Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kits & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago and associated States Anguilla and Bermuda.
Delegates also included the Chairs of the CARICOM Standing Committee of Chiefs of Immigration and the CARICOM Standing Committee of Comptrollers of Customs, the Chair of the Regional Information Technology Sub-Committee (RITC), Crime and Security Program Coordinator of the CARICOM Secretariat and directors and other senior officers of the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), the joint Regional Communications Centre (JRCC), Regional Intelligence Fusion Centre (RIFC) and the Regional Security System (RSS).
The Commissioners of Police and Military Chiefs reiterated their pledge of full support to the local security chiefs in their current crime fighting efforts.
