Castries City police constables have scored a major first: they’re already on the beat on city streets with Body Cameras (body-cams) provided by the Castries Constituencies Council (CCC), to enhance their interactions with citizens.
Castries Mayor Geraldine Lendor-Gabriel told THE VOICE City yesterday, that constables were recently issued with body-cams, “because they have particular functions, including to interact with citizens on a one-on-one basis, including to ensure there’s compliance with the established City laws, rules and regulations by everyone – citizens and visitors alike, whether from Castries or anywhere else in Saint Lucia.”
She also noted that “There can sometimes be cases that are very contentious — like vendors occupying areas they’re not supposed to, or persons who continue the bad practice of urinating in public.”
The mayor added that the officers “also have to contend and interact with persons of unsound mind in The City…”
Mayor Lendor-Gabriel explained: “Our City Police sometimes have difficulties handling such situations, so we felt the need not only to protect the public, but also to protect the officers in the conduct of their duties.”
She indicated: “There have also been times when the city constables have been accused of engaging in poor management of persons,” but added that “this is not always the case…”
The mayor explained “there are also situations where aggrieved persons may make some allegations and charges because they did not get their way with the officers.”
The City’s mayor said it was “as a result of such situations that the decision was taken, very early in the term of this Council, to make body-cams available to officers.”
Mayor Gabriel, who also chairs the CCC, said there have also been increasing calls by officers to provide equipment for their safety, as a result of which “all city police have also already been trained in the use of firearms.”
In addition, city police have also been provided with “reflective vests”, she said, “to ensure they are better equipped to manage the new challenges their tasks and functions require, in the new environment of enforcement necessary today.”
She said the constables “have also been undertaking special training to handle the increasing incidents of youth and child delinquency through better understanding what related laws provide for.”
Madam Mayor continued, “We at the Council think this was a very important move, not only for the city, but for overall enforcing of policing generally, because, as we know, the City Police is part of the national enforcement system and therefore its officers also need to be properly and sufficiently equipped for the job.”
Meanwhile, the new Government Minister responsible for policing is supporting growing public calls for officers of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF) to also be given body-cams.
Former Crime Prevention Minister and new Minister of Home Affairs, Micoud North MP Jeremiah Norbert, told reporters here recently that providing body-cams to local police officers will help improve and increase levels of public confidence in the local police force.
He said “If you (police officers) are always being recorded,” then “there are no closed doors to worry about…
“So,” he added, “we are going to look into how we can implement something of that sort.”
“Naturally,” the minister concluded, “we are going to see that move translating into the public having more confidence in the police…”