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09th Feburary 2010
More Weekend Bloodshed

More bloodshed and violence were recorded over the weekend including that of another homicide, as government and police continue to register a united front in efforts at curbing the crime spree on the island.
And as both Police Commissioner Ausbert Regis and National Security Minister Guy Mayers speak about measures soon to be taken to assist police in their clampdown on criminals the country recorded its second homicide for this month, escalating the fear of crime in the country to higher levels.
With five homicides recorded in January and a tough talking government and police, and crime abatement measures soon to be introduced, an expected lowering of criminal activities could be expected.
However, over the past weekend, none of that was in evidence as one man was said to use a hammer on another, Friday afternoon in Castries. Earlier that afternoon a fight broke out among Sir Arthur Lewis students on the school’s playing field, and the chopping of one man by another Saturday by the Castries Market, are all indicators of the violence sweeping the country to date.
And there is more. A teenager was reported to have stabbed another in Cedars, Sunday night while in the Dennery Valley two boys were reported to have gone after each other in a fight that was as violent as such fights could get.
The victim of the stabbing at Cedars is Kelvin Marquis originally of Choiseul. He, at 19 years because the seventh homicide for the year. According to police reports the deceased was walking along that road when two men approached him and attempted to rob him at about 8:30p.m.
It was during that attempted robbery that he was fatally stabbed. One man is currently in police custody assisting police in their investigations.
Police, in the meantime are trying to arm themselves with taser guns after being accused on several occasions of using unnecessary force in their attempts at restraining persons.
According to Commissioner Regis he was awaiting final approval for the procurement of tasers.
“We have already contacted and we are in final negotiations with representatives from Taser international whose instructors will be coming down here to conduct the trainers’ course for our police officers,” Regis said.
 
 

“Relating to breath-alyzers just last week we were in discussions with the Ministry of Communications because they require just some tweaking of the traffic legislation to provide what is required. We have been given the assurance that this will happen within weeks and we are looking forward to that.
“Relating to the Witness protection Programme it is ongoing but it is handled not by our Ministry but by the Ministry of Justice. We have had discussions on that but it is not something we want to talk about in terms of how it is going to be but all we could say is that it is at an advanced position right now,” Regis said.
National Security Minister Mayers said that one of the things holding up legislative work on measures that would aid the police in their fight against crime was the lack of a drafts person to get that done.
“Coming out of our round table meeting last week with the Ministry of Justice it was confirmed that there is a consultant in the attorney general’s office who used to be with the OECS Secretariat. She is now being assigned to the Ministry of Justice and just last week we were prioritizing the bits of legislation she would have to deal with,” Mayers said.
He added that close circuit cameras spoken of in the past to be installed in key places in and around the City of Castries will be an examined further in the 2010/2011 budget presentation expected to be forthcoming in the next two months.
However, according to Mayers, before this is done the streets of the city need to be properly lighted so that persons captured by the cameras could be properly identified.
Explaining that he has seen how the cameras work in Britain, Mayers said he is confident they could work in the city in reducing crime.
“We need to make use of new technology that is available to enhance the work of the police. I believe it will be a very effective crime fighting tool for the police,” Mayers said.
He hoped that the cameras would be in force by the end of this year.

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