St. Kitts and Nevis: Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew addressed the nation over increasing crime and violence in the twin island, and pledged to curb crime, prioritizing the national security. The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is putting plans in place for the staging of a National Consultation.

Through the Ministry of National Security, the federation aims on the issue of crime and violence, bringing together the senior government officials, along with the law enforcement personnel, civil society, non-governmental organisations, the youth and more for wide-ranging discussions on the important issue.

Drew cleared his objective, that they should detect, charge and prosecute the destructive persons which are involved the criminal activities and also have to prevent their nefarious actions.

Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew pledged that they should strengthen the intelligence capabilities of the security forces. It has progressed steadily, especially with the utilization of the Fusion Center, leading to the increased detection rate that he referenced earlier.

He mentioned that the nineteen persons were killed this year and the intelligence report have been received which suggests that two-thirds of the homicides were a result of gang violence and reprisals.

PM Drew pledged that there would be an expansion of the CCTV infrastructure island-wide and other evidence gathering capabilities. They continued to build the CCTV infrastructure, which has been one of the most impactful tools in acquiring evidence used in investigations and charging those accused of crimes. The entire island will be covered with the CCTV.

While addressing the gathering PM Drew who is also responsible for national security of St. Kitts and Nevis has dedicated his life to save and preserve the lives. He highlighted that every life is precious, therefore they cannot tolerate the wilful violence that has resulted in the unacceptable increase in the number of homicides over the last two decades in the federation, and particularly the loss of life over the past few days and months.

Prime Minister Drew emphasised on the past days report and that they have lost three citizens to gun violence. He added that on the behalf of the government, the people of the federation and his family and he himself express the deepest condolences to the loved and closed ones of the victims for their families.

Dr. Drew added that they have lost the way as a society as every homicide is one too many. He stressed upon his words and said that every life is precious and they cannot become numb to any violent crime.

The National Security Council Minister assured that they meet weekly to ensure that the strong policies are created to sustain a safe environment, which is responsible of any government supported by its people.

With the heads of all the national security agencies in the federation, they have carefully crafted the policies of the security council, seeing the rate of 50% detection in homicides for the year 2024, recording the increase over last year.

Drew cleared his objective, that they should detect, charge and prosecute the destructive persons which are involved the criminal activities and also have to prevent their nefarious actions.

He mentioned that the nineteen persons were killed this year and the intelligence report have been received which suggests that two-thirds of the homicides were a result of gang violence and reprisals.

Considering the serious gang problem in the society, prime minister drew want the statistic to sink in, as they have a serious gang problem in the society. The societal ill has reflected throughout the region and has been a serious force for at for two decades now, it has gone worse because of the introduction of money into the equation.

Not only do the gangs have numerous members, but because of the ill-advised peace program, as they have significant amounts of money used to buy influence and dangerous sophisticated weapons, which are used to carry out the heinous acts.

However, through the enhanced intelligence infrastructure, they located a suspect of one of the recent homicides who had left St. Kitts. They continued to request the assistance of the general public to bolster the intelligence.