Left to right: Irvin ‘ACE’ Loctar of Commercial Kings Ltd, Major Crime Unit Superintendent George Nicolas and Sergeant Shervon Matthew.
Officials of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF) today announced the production of ten Public Service Announcements (PSAs) for the ‘Preserve and Protect Campaign’.
The campaign which was launched in July, aims to garner the public’s support in helping to preserve crime scenes, something the police admits to be a major issue on the island.
Superintendent responsible for Major Crimes and second in command George Nicolas said the launch of these PSAs is to sensitize more persons of ways they can assist the police in protecting these crime scenes.
“We are hoping that persons would take heed. That they would listen and would act accordingly when they are faced with these situations and assist us and help us solve more crimes,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Shervon Matthew expressed similar sentiments and stressed the importance of crime scene preservation by the public.
“It has been and is a grave concern for law enforcement personnel, the issue of crime scene security and preservation. When a crime occurs, securing the scene is the first order of business for the responding officer in order to ensure that there is no loss of physical evidence, which are clues in piecing the chain of events that have occurred, for a successful investigation,” he explained.
The police sergeant said however most times when crimes occur, citizens are the first persons on a scene and no care or attention is taken with regards to security or loss of evidence.
As a result, evidence is easily lost as persons accidentally or intentionally contaminate the scene. In many instances, this is mainly due to a lack of knowledge on the part of citizens.
To continue this island-wide public education and sensitization, the RSLPF collaborated with Commercial Kings Ltd and obtained the assistance of radio personalities and music artistes to bring the message across in a more appealing and “catchy” way, using PSAs.
Some of the persons who volunteered to do the PSAs include: Roxanne Didier Nicolas, Ezra D’Funmachine, Kendell “Scady” Eugene, Arthur Allain (Groovy King), Jenna-Anne Gaston, among others.
At least three radio stations have offered to broadcast these PSAs for free. They include: MBC Radio, BlazinFM and Rhythm FM. The RSLPF is seeking the assistance of other entities to do the same.
Sergeant Matthew said, “We intend to continue to distribute our bookmarks at our upcoming Police Week exhibitions slated for November 2015, in the north and the south of the island,”
A booth will be set up with personnel on hand to provide information, to handout these bookmarks and answer questions.
The RSLPF is also soliciting the assistance of the private sector through sponsorship for key rings and pencils.
The effort thus far has been a tremendous success, according to Sergeant Matthew.
Senator Dr. Stephen King has endorsed the initiative and was present for the launch.
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