Police Commissioner Milton Desir has called on criminals to be on their best behavior as members of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force will be out in full force to ensure peace and tranquility on island, particularly during the Christmas season.
“Be on your guard because the police will be out there and whatever information that we get leading to an arrest, we will be coming for you. Remember you have been dealing a year of violence so the police will be coming to you in whatever form so just be on your guard,” Desir said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Saint Lucia to date has recorded 74 homicides, the last two occurring this week. The country has also recorded an increase in burglaries and stealing as noted by Assistant Commissioner of Police Andre Collymore.
He said the RSPLF made significant headway in solving 20 of the homicides that have occurred to date.
“We have some other matters which are close to closure, however, because of some technical difficulties as a result of testing and the unwillingness of some of the witnesses to come forward, we are unable to close some of (them),” Collymore told reporters.
On Wednesday the RSLPF confiscated a number of illegal items in an operation conducted in Vieux Fort called ‘Blue Envelope’. Collymore thanked the public for their assistance in “most of these matters,’ but pointed to the difficulties investigators are encountering again due in part to the unwillingness of witnesses to come forward.
Collymore Wednesday stated that over 120 police officers were deployed to the south of the island where cash, motorcycles and a quantity of cannabis were seized. He added that the Force will be making some major changes in the coming year, which will ultimately benefit the entire police department.