CASTRIES, St. Lucia (CMC):Attorney-General Dr. Nicholas Frederick says government's approach to dealing with crime is yielding positive results, with the island recording a 30-per-cent reduction in homicides so far this year.
He said that at this time last year, the island had recorded 37 murders and a record 43 for the entire year, but up to December 13 this year, 25 homicides had been recorded.
"This administration remains committed to further stepping up the fight against crime and we expect that at the end of our remaining four years, in this term, we will be back to single digits as far as our murder rate and crime in general is concerned," he said.
Judicial reform a plus
Frederick said a three-pronged strategy that involved the police, civil society and the reform of the judicial system has also led to a reduction in violent for the year.
The Attorney-General said that, in addition, reform of the judicial system has allowed for a significant reduction in the back log of cases, and as a result fewer persons are being kept on remand for extended periods.
Frederick said the police force is now slowly regaining the confidence of the public because of its ability to resolve crime as a result of a major improvement in effecting arrests and resolving criminal murder investigations.
Police presence
In addition, he said, the visible presence of officers on the streets of the capital and other populated communities is having the effect of discouraging incidents of crime particularly against visitors, an area which has witnessed a significant decline.
The Attorney-General says he is still not satisfied with this achievement and the force will be sitting on its laurels in the new year, but will be moving to make its presence even more visible while improving relations with the community.
"It must be stressed that if our fight against crime is ever going to get back into the single digits, we are not going to achieve that without the help of the community whose responsibility it is to alert the police of any suspicions and be prepared to share information they may have," he said.
