Basseterre, St. Kitts, March 17, 2020 (SKNIS): The forensic capabilities of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force (RSCNPFF) were enhanced on Monday (March 16, 2020) following the donation of crime scene consumables and equipment by the Regional Security System (RSS).
Captain Errington Shurland, the Executive Director of the RSS, presented the items to Commissioner of Police, Hilroy Brandy, during a ceremony at the Police Training Complex. Included in the donation were equipment for personal protection, evidence collection and preservation, as well as fingerprint and photography.
“Since the RSS came into being in October 1982, we have coordinated support to our member states security forces,” Captain Shurland stated. “The equipment is part of a €1.3 million project that allowed us to provide continuous support to our member states.
The funds were allocated under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) which provided aid for development cooperation for Asian, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. The value of the donated equipment is approximately $132,000.
Forensics is particularly important to law enforcement as it helps to solve crimes and gain convictions. The scientific evidence often eliminates the need for witnesses and in most cases directly links perpetrators to crimes.
“We believe that basic procedures and preservation of evidence are critical,” Captain Shurland added. … As we move forward in embracing more technologically driven solutions to crime-fighting, I cannot emphasize enough the need to ensure that we have the tools and have mastered the knowledge of proper evidence recovery techniques.”
LaToya Lake-Marshall, Director of Forensics for the RSCNPF, said that the “Crime Scene Unit is alive and fully functional. Our lab is equipped, and daily exhibits are tested by our technicians via the use of our high-tech latent machinery. Our very existence is to strengthen the cases brought by law enforcement scientifically.”
Ms. Lake-Marshall thanked the RSS for the donation saying, “We are eternally grateful for your constant support and contributions towards this rigorous task of scientific crime-fighting and we assure you that we will definitely make use of these supplies both on our daily scene responses and within our laboratory at Tabernacle.”
Since 2015, the government spent some $4.5 million upgrading the forensic capabilities. This includes setting up a containerised forensic laboratory at Tabernacle in April 2018 and purchasing numerous equipment.
