The St Kitts Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CIC), is calling for an urgent meeting with the top cop Commissioner Ian Queeley, to address a growing trend of criminal activity that has left 14 people dead and increasing armed robberies against businesses in the federation.
In a letter to the Commissioner dated Tuesday 31 May 2016, , the Chamber pointed out that “When the St. Kitts -Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce met with you and the Police High Command a few months ago, we discussed the Strategic Plan to be implemented to tackle the upsurge in crime within the Federation. However since then, the expected outcome from the implementation of the Strategic Plan has not materialized. ”
The Chamber said it was with a great deal of concern that the matter of business security, citizen security and the preservation of the national image were important to national security.
“We have been cooperative as we have worked closely with the Police Force, giving tangible support which has helped to address some of the operational challenges and strategies for improvement. At this point we need to ask: are we working on the correct agenda items?”
The Chamber submitted that “what has been tried so far, is not providing confidence that the situation is under control. Therefore, we believe it is time for a new approach and would welcome the opportunity to sit down with the Police High Command and figure out the necessary steps to effect the required change.”
“This matter requires the urgent attention to prevent any further disruption in our ability to feel safe in our homes, work places and country as a whole. ” the CIC added.
The request for the meeting with the COP comes on the heels of a recent spate of violent crime which included : Thursday May 19, Stapleton resident Antonio Richardson, 29, who was left crippled by an earlier shooting, was shot dead in his home.
Friday May 20, two men Keron ‘Bobo’ Michael and William Phillip died after being shot in Saddlers, three others suffered injuries. On that same day, two armed men robbed the MoneyGram office at Port Zante just after it opened for business, and a lone gunman robbed Guillard’s gas station, on the Island Main Road, in the afternoon.
On the weekend of Saturday May 21 – Sunday May 22, thieves burglarized the FedEx Courier Services warehouse in the C.A. Paul Southwell Industrial Site.
On Friday, May 27 police charged Inebo Hendrickson, 29, of Malone Avenue and Reynauldo Jeffers of Buckley’s Site with the robbery of MoneyGram.