Prime Minister Anthony Unveils Anti-Crime Plan

January 9, 2001 – Assuring St. Lucians that his government will not  allow criminals to blight the country’s bright development prospects, Prime Minister Kenny D. Anthony last night unveiled a package of anti-crime measures aimed at enhancing public safety and getting scientifically to the root causes of crime.

In a nationally televised New Year’s address, Dr. Anthony announced the immediate creation of a 10-man police Rapid Response Unit to fight tourist-related crime to safeguard the island’s top foreign exchange earning industry. The unit will be based at the Gros Islet police station which serves the north, considered St. Lucia’s tourism heartland.  Following two recent incidents involving intruders, the Prime Minister urged hotels to complement government’s initiative by reviewing their own security arrangements.

Besides the Rapid Response Unit, the anti-crime offensive includes establishment of a National Anti-Crime Commission, a comprehensive review of the Criminal Code, and reforms to the  Police Service. Professor Dr. Ramesh Deosaran, head of the Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad, will assist with the establishment of the Anti-Crime Commission.

“St. Lucia will not become a country in which we are at war against everyone and life is solitary, nasty, brutish and short,” Dr. Anthony firmly stressed. “Nor will this government permit criminals to undo our upward path of economic development  which has made St. Lucia one of the most pleasant and comfortable societies in which to live.”

The Prime Minister spoke a week after St. Lucians were shocked and enraged by a brutal criminal attack on Catholic worshippers at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the capital, Castries. A nun was bludgeoned to death in the attack in which 12 others, including the priest officiating at the mass, were doused with gasoline and set on fire. Two young men have been charged with  murder, attempted murder, arson and other offences arising from the New Year’s Eve incident.

Dr. Anthony underscored a need for improved relations between police and citizens, noting it holds the key to effective crime-fighting. “Law enforcement and the civilian community have become too remote from each other,” he observed. “Law enforcement officers cannot solve crimes unless they receive useful information and useful information will only be provided if the providers of such information respect and trust our law enforcement officers.”

  Dr. Anthony said the tragic Cathedral event, unprecedented in the nation’s history, underscored a need for St. Lucians to engage in “deep thought and reflection”, not only about prevailing values, including a trend towards materialism, but also the plight of “impoverished and marginalized youth”, especially males.

  Pointing to previous neglect of the needs and aspirations of the nation’s youth,  Dr. Anthony noted young people have been major beneficiaries under his three-and-a-half-year-old administration. He mentioned the provision of more modern sporting facilities, including a national stadium under construction, and increased opportunities for education and employment.

  Additional support will come later this month when government opens a skills training centre to retrain and equip young people to participate in the new global economy driven by information and technology..

  “These initatives, though important, are by themselves not enough. We need to do much more in this new year, ” said Dr. Anthony, urging other major institutions  - the private sector, the family, the church, schools and community organizations – to join government in extending a helping hand to the nation’s youth.

[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Search for 2001 Press Releases ] [Site Help]

© 2001 Government Information Service. All rights reserved.

Read our privacy guidelines.