By Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter

THE GOVERNMENT said on Wednesday it will continue to tap into the millions of dollars gained from criminal operations and use it to assist the security forces in the fight against crime.

"This is an ongoing thing, as soon as the court proceedings are completed, the money is lodged into an account," Gilbert Scott, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, told The Gleaner.

He was commenting on a statement issued by National Security Minister Dr. Peter Phillips that in view of the urgent situation, Cabinet, over the past year, has decided that all resources forfeited from counternarcotics and money laundering activities are to be re-invested in law enforcement. The Minister said close to $100 million has been made available.

According to Dr. Phillips, the need to provide the necessary security technologies and equipment for the Police Force, represents a major call on the country's budgetary resources.

On Tuesday, he said the govern-ment was unable to provide the ill-equipped Police Force with all the resources they needed at this time. He made the comment after executive members of the Police Officers' Association (POA) publicly stated that the Force was battle-weary and woefully lacking adequate resources.

SECURITY PERSONNEL INCREASED

In response to the POA report, Dr. Phillips said the government has increased the number of personnel in the security forces, purchased and deployed $30 million worth of safety equipment, passed new legislation to amend the fingerprint act and improved the intelligence capability of the Police Force.

At the start of the financial year (2004-2005), the POA said the Police Force had requested just over $11 billion and only $8 billion was approved. Since then, each month the money received has been reduced and, as a result, the operational capability was significantly undermined, the POA said.

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