Supt. Tells of Recent Abduction and Rape.
By Kingsley Emmanuel
THE Vieux Fort police have implemented a number of strategies to deal with the growing crime problem in the town, and according to Superintendent Moses James of the Vieux Fort Police Station, the measures have brought positive results.
This he revealed at a meeting with the business community of Vieux Fort, which was organised by the Vieux Fort South Constituency Council, and held at the Vieux Fort Primary School on Wednesday.
According to Winhall Joshua, mayor of Vieux Fort, the objective of the meeting was to have the business community and the police to discuss issues relating to security and safety in Vieux Fort.
“We want the business community to discuss with the police what is affecting them…and also for them to chart the way forward,” Joshua told THE VOICE.
Some of the crimes which Superintendent James revealed as having taken place in Vieux Fort recently startled some of the participants.
“Not too long ago we had a report of rape near the Walker building in Vieux Fort, where a young lady was relaxing with her partner when a group of about seven persons took her away from the gentleman and proceeded to rape her,” James, who is in charge of the Vieux Fort Police Station, said.
He identified some of the crimes which are rampant in Vieux Fort as theft from motor vehicles, burglary and robbery.
“Stealing from motor vehicles is on the rise in Vieux Fort,” he revealed.
James said a number of people are being robbed at gun point at Sandy beach, by individuals who pretend to be using the beach.
According to him, medical students attending universities in Vieux Fort seem to be easy targets for burglars, who break and enter their homes and steal a variety of items, including laptops.
“We can’t take this lightly. It must not continue. If we allow it to continue, it will get beyond our control, or reach a point where we may have to use more force in order to control it. We have to tackle the problem very early,” James said.
He added: “Crime prevention is everyone’s business, not just the police. We all have a say in crime prevention. The business community must also play its role in dealing with the problem.”
James said the police can’t be everywhere because of resource constraints. In order to deal with the problem the police force has increased its presence in Vieux Fort, including certain areas which were not frequently patrolled in the past. He added that plain clothes officers are being deployed in strategic areas which has been effective, stating that a number of persons have been arrested under this strategy.
“We have intensified both foot and mobile patrols and increased our presence where specific crimes are being committed,” he said.
Traffic police have issued a large number of tickets to traffic offenders recently. James said that some people drive without drivers’ licences or insurance for their vehicles, while others drive vehicles which are not roadworthy or try to evade the clutches of the law by parking their vehicles during the day and driving them at night. But the lawmen were clamping on these offenders, James said.