UNITEDPAC calls on National Security Minister Phillip la Corbinere to account for murder rate

CASTRIES, Saint Lucia – Sunday, January 17, 2016 – Readers may remember for the first three months last year St. Lucia's homicide count was zero. The Minister for National Security Philip La Corbinere immediately went into action bragging and claiming credit indicating it was as a result of measures he was instrumental in directing, rather than refer to any good work and other efforts of our police officers or maybe just how plain lucky and fortunate the country was.

Well and unfortunately that situation suddenly changed and murders occurred at an accelerated rate, as we would remember. The Minister immediately went silent and virtually invisible. The sad part was the continued absence of official sentiments of sympathy to the families of victims and reassurances to the general public of intolerance to those acts and that every effort would be made to minimize that situation. Murder after murder and the Minister remained silent but only surfaced in a weak defense to the attack on the non-functionality of the CCTV cameras in the Chaussee Road area. To date who knows if camera operations have been restored in that area and if non-functionality is the norm in other cameras elsewhere. 

For now and unfortunately we are at murder No. 2 and an act almost as horrific and savage as the last murder for 2015. Let’s see how long it will take Minister La Corbinere first to tell the nation hello for the new year, acknowledge those horrific murders, show his concern on serious crime in general, give reassurances and then give an address as to his plans for our most pressing state problem. But then he must first have a plan and a convincing one at that and he must be able to inspire confidence in it so as to give us the citizenry hope. He must be able to at least finally earn his keep and show that he in control but not through displaying insensitivity and arrogance.

High levels of crime will not be good for our island and even worse all of the unresolved ones. We trust that the Minister will make every attempt to minimize the effects of IMPACS and its controversy on the operations of the police force and provide the police with the urgent support resources they need. The forensic service and court systems have both collapsed and now the DPP’s office is substantially rattled which to only exacerbate Bordelais’ already bursting remand population.

Last year in his own admission Minister La Corbinere claimed that a weakness in implementing the Anti gang Legislation was the absence of officers trained in that regard. Interesting it was only then such was realized and long after the bill was passed. To date has any officer(s) been trained? Now we are hearing the Acting Commissioner saying they are awaiting training in the use of certain strategies in handling mentally challenged persons and so yet again is that recurring issue. Surely taxpayers deserve a whole lot more than that.