Witness Protection

One of the main items discussed at the recently-concluded Regional Security System’s meeting in Barbados was that of a regional witness protection plan.
It may turn out to be one of the most beneficial moves these countries have made in recent times.
Take our situation in St. Lucia for example – which is no doubt mirrored by most of our sister-islands – we are beginning to realize that crime is one of the elements impacting the most on our existence … it affects our fragile tourism industry; it cuts down our youth in the prime of their lives; it is a constant threat to life, limb and property; it keeps our people in virtual prisons in their domiciles, afraid to walk the streets for fear of some form of assault by violence; and the list could go on and on …
We seem to have explored so very many avenues to little avail; the incidence of crime persists in remaining elevated.

One of the elements that everyone bemoans, is that even though it is widely recognized that effective crime prevention will only be possible if the public, with their eyes and ears that are everywhere, pitches in and helps the police with reports of incidents as they happen, this seldom happens because in a community as small as ours, anyone who “fingers” a perpetrator will suffer reprisal – from the criminal if he is not incarcerated … and from his family and friends if he himself is behind bars.
No one who stands up in open court and gives testimony that sends a violent gangster to prison can rest easy at night – whether out walking the streets or in his bed behind closed doors. And the dearth of witnesses who would come forward and take the risk is one of the main impediments to our crime suppression efforts meeting with any real measure of success.
Let us hope that the plan that will be implemented for witness protection is one that will be genuinely effective … and even more, inspire confidence in those who can deliver testimony that would put wrongdoers where they belong.
We have put a variety of resources into the crime-fighting effort in the effort to stem the rise of the wave. This may just be the straw that breaks the crime-camel’s back.