IS ST. LUCIA DYSFUNCTIONAL BY DESIGN?, PART II

Sixteen violent killings in six months and many of them related to an
ongoing drug gang feud - 2009 is turning out to be yet another year of the
gun in Saint Lucia. But while many citizens and social commentators are
calling for the police to do more to curb violent crime, police are
struggling to do as much as they can with resources diminished by steady
attrition.

Are cops being asked for too much by a country that leaves them
under-manned, under-paid and short of resources to fight crime?

At the beginning of the year, the Prime Minister promised that the
government would spend the next 12 months paying special attention to
national security. During the April budget he said "National security is a
major priority of this government."

What else was he expected to say? The list of promises made includes:

- - Resources and training for better crime scene management.

- - An electronic fingerprint ID system was also mentioned.

- - The long promised forensics lab was rehashed as was the promise of
non-lethal weapons like tasers which might help the survival rate among
those being chased by cops.

- - Closed circuit cameras in public places were also on the wish list, as
were coastal radar and radar guns to check highway speed demons.

- - A police sub-station for the Rodney Bay area was one of the government's
campaign solutions to the rising rate of violent crime. In the 2009
budget, the Prime Minister brought it back to life.

- - In addition to all of this, the Prime Minister promised to make training
available for over 100 new officers.

In all, the justice ministry was one of the few winners in this year's
budget. While other ministries' budgets were being slashed, the justice
ministry got $110.6 million allocation from the budget - a nine percent
increase over the previous year and nearly 10 percent of the total budget.
But how many of the promises made to cops have been kept as the once new
year crosses the halfway mark?

The forensics lab is a fitting monument to the current situation crime
fighters find themselves in. The building has been built but the equipment
and training were not acquired on the completion of construction. And so,
though the building exists, the lab does not.

The electronic fingerprint ID system has not appeared in Saint Lucia either.

Some cops have been trained in extracting and preserving fingerprints, but
accurate recognition of a fingerprint for use in a trial depends on a
computer program. Currently, fingerprints must be shipped off-island for
scientific evaluation, lengthening the time between investigation and
trial and increasing the chances of contamination and error.

The motivation to use closed circuit cameras to monitor public places
probably came after justice minister Mayers visited England - which is one
of the countries with the most surveillance of its own people. The idea
was probably to start with high risk locations like ATM machines and night
deposit boxes. The cameras, however, have yet to be purchased.

The coastal radar systems are part of a regional project to more effective
monitor the drug infested waters of the Eastern Caribbean and the delay in
setting it up probably has nothing to do with the government. The two
radar guns meant to curb highway speeding have yet to arrive, though.

In 2006, there were more officers on duty than there are today.

Furthermore, each dollar given to the force could buy almost 30 percent
more back then than it can today.

Are the police just scapegoats in the country's love/hate relationship
with illegal drugs, guns and violent crime? Are they just a convenient
target to blame for the social diseases that are fostered by lawyers,
business people and Customs Officers and enabled by church, school, state
and family? More importantly, what is the leadership really going to do
about escalating violent crime, apart from put more pressure on the cops.

"This government came into power on the back of a high crime rate and has
done practically nothing about it," opposition member Robert Louis said
recently. "When will the Prime Minister have a serious discussion to
address the high crime rate? Our country is not safe. St Lucia needs to
hear more concrete plans. The statements in the budget are just bones -
and we need to hear the meat of the plans. National development depends on
national security."

The government, somewhat ironically, spends more money paying rent for the
various new police stations than on fighting crime itself.

Police vehicles get into situations that most vehicles never do. To keep
the force running, there must be a commitment to repair and replacement of
equipment that runs in tandem with any efforts to curb the misuse of these
vehicles. But apart from vehicles donated by foreign governments, the
force hardly gets new wheels.

Though cops are often caricatured as heavy drinkers, the police
commissioner has recognized the correlation of alcohol and violence. Has
he ever urged for stronger restrictions on the sale of alcohol. The answer
was "Yes, I have. In more than one successive political administration, I
have suggested stronger controls on the sale of alcohol, especially at
certain times of the year." The answer from the most committed Christians
in Cabinet - justice minister Guy Mayers and communications and works
minister Guy Joseph - was "It's a good idea, but it cannot be done." The
Prime Minister, in his April 2009 budget address thought that Saint Lucia
was more realistically at the stage where the consumption of alcohol at
schools was a problem.

"I can only suggest it," Commissioner Regis said when asked. "That sort of
decision," he added bluntly, before cutting short the conversation, "is
above my pay grade."