Official Launch of the Police Records Management Information System (PRMIS)
Police Training Station – St. Kitts
Remarks by Magdy Martinez- Soliman, Resident Representative UNDP

On the behalf of the United Nations Development Programme, I would like to thank the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis’ for this very first opportunity to enjoy their hospitality, and for giving me the opportunity to share a few words in this event of a singular importance. I believe it is also the same first opportunity for my colleague Mr. Clinton White, the Country Representative of USAID.

Mr. Commissioner of Police, members of the National Task Force, you would probably expect an economic development expert to speak to you about the High Human Development of St. Kitts, its progress in managing tax revenue over the past 5 years, the positive impact of its CBI programme, the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment or the very successful reduction of its debt. I could delve on demographics, education and health indicators.

All these issues are relevant to what we have come here to discuss today. Nowhere like in this region and in the neighbouring continent is development so clearly dependent on citizen security, on the effectiveness of smart policing, and on the protection of our lives and properties by those in charge of upholding the Law and Order. Tourism and foreign investment are quick on their feet and easily frightened.

There is no shortage of alternatives, in the region and beyond. My country is the second most visited destination in the world, after France and ahead of the United States, with roughly 82 million foreigners coming to our shores every year. Never did our tourism sector or our foreign investments suffer more than when, three decades ago, we were unable to control the combination of terrorism and petty violent crime.

CariSECURE, in St. Kitts & Nevis, holds a promise that we share between the Caribbean Governments and Police Forces who are in the lead, the UN’s Development arm who provides technical assistance, and the United States who support with guidance and resources this effort in the entire region.

We always see in the movies, in reality shows and in the news how crime has evolved and stays at the cutting edge of technology. They have not stayed behind, using a baton, a lock pick and a knife. Conversely, police must keep up and take over if they are to catch the bad guys and gather the evidence that will allow a Judge to put them eventually behind bars.

The SDGs contain Goal 16, which focuses on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. The foundation of crime prosecution is the collection of data for the criminal justice system by the police. Evidence-based crime prevention starts by building capacity within the organization. This is what St. Kitts and Nevis is achieving and what USAID is supporting.

This project has been designed to respond to a reality that no one is trying to hide or even sugarcoat. In Caribbean countries, economic and social well-being has been significantly reduced by high levels of violent crime and this is why we celebrated as the best possible of news, when we heard the National Security Advisor, Major General Steward Saunders announce a very significant drop in homicides for the Federation this year, compared to the same period in 2018. A major success, to be continued.

I have no doubt, the Police Commissioner and his team would agree that the current practice of using pen and paper to write down all related information at a crime scene is not optimal. From the simple challenge of penmanship, to a more critical concern with accuracy and completeness of information, crime fighting in St. Kitts and Nevis can benefit from a more robust and efficient system for collecting, storing, managing, and analysing crime statistics – and sharing them with others.

Police officers deployed to a crime scene will now have the means to electronically enter information onto a computer, store that information on a server, retrieve real time data, analyze trends, and prepare reports in a more efficient and timely manner. The piloting of this methodology in Stapleton and Frigate in St. Kitts and Cotton Bay in Nevis should provide evidence and lessons that will be reviewed to scale up this approach for national use.

As your partner in development, UNDP is honoured to be part of this effort. Good records are a must for a stellar police force. A peaceful and safe St. Kitts is, I am sure, what the Police has taken an oath to protect and serve, Government works hard to secure, the tourists expect to enjoy, the economic operators require to grow, and the citizenry demands to live tranquil lives. Please count us in. Law and Order and the Rule of Law are intangible public goods that have one advantage: consumption of these goods by anyone does not reduce the quantity available to others. On the contrary, the more we consume, the more there is left for everyone else to enjoy.

I thank you.