PM identifies need for greater use of intelligence to fight crime

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves wants to see the gathering and use of more intelligence as a means of dealing with the crime situation in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

On Sunday, November 6 on radio Gonsalves said he had spoken to Police Commissioner, Colin John about the situation.

“I said to the Commissioner that though we have improved our surveillance, there is still an insufficiency of actionable intelligence in relation to certain crimes.”

The Prime Minister’s comments were made during a call to the Issue at Hand programme on Sunday morning.

With two shooting deaths at the weekend pushing the homicide figure to 36 so far for the year, Gonsalves who holds ministerial responsibility for National Security said “We need to up our intelligence.”

He explained that members of the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVPF), cannot effectively fight crime by the use of force only.

He said this system has to be reviewed, and he urged officers to use intelligence to track down criminals, and stay ahead of the curve.

Gonsalves observed that sometimes, very good intelligence “may be able to stop a killing” or other forms of criminal action adding, “we have used intelligence before, on an ongoing basis to stop crimes.”

And he pointed out ways in which intelligence can still be used to help put a dent in the crime situation locally, including the use of human intelligence.

“We have made advances in intelligence, but we need to do more,” Gonsalves stressed.

He, however, noted that the use of electronic surveillance is not an option, as that matter was defeated in Parliament.

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