National Security Minister Hermangild Francis
The upsurge in criminal activities particularly in the country’s capital, Castries has led officials from the Castries City Council and the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force to meet with National Security Minister Hermangild Francis.
Francis said he is deeply concerned about the issue, explaining that mostly young people are responsible for the increased number of crime occurring daily in the city.
“We have identified who some of the young people are, and the police are going to be working assiduously in dealing with that,” the minister told the media on Thursday.
Francis said during his meeting with City Mayor Peterson Francis and his councillors, Police Chief Severein Moncherry and Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police for Territorial Policing Crusita Pelius , they discussed ways in which they could handle this matter effectively.
During those discussions, the team also looked at ways they could move to revamp the city police department.
The city mayor has said the additional officers are needed so that the police department can respond quicker to non-violent calls and provide the type of coverage of the city that is expected.
Statistics produced by the police in January 2016, showed an increase of 18 percent in robbery offences, despite there was an overall decrease in reported crimes.
Only today( Thursday), another Castries store named Sam’s Shoes was burglarised, following a series of other incidents during the past several weeks at other city businesses.
And recently, Canada upgraded its travel warning for Saint Lucia urging its citizens travelling here to avoid several places, including Chausee Road, because of high rates of crime.
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