By: Precious Mills
BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Saturday 28th April 2018)– Yesterday afternoon (Friday) at the grounds of the Tabernacle Police Station, saw a ceremony to commemorate the Commissioning of the newly-constructed forensic lab.
As gathered , the first floor includes offices, conference rooms, bathrooms, dormitory, shower and a kitchen while the on the ground floor consist of rooms like a development lab, enhancement lab, receiving area, exhibit room, ballistics lab and bulk storage.
Work began on the project in November 2017.
Assistant Police Commissioner Hilroy Brandy gave remarks on behalf of Police Commissioner Ian Queeley who was off island at the time, describing the occasion as a “critical moment in the history of the St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force and the Federation.”
He touched on the enabled science support in solving crime by citing information from the National Institution of Justice (NIJ) of the United States of America.
“The National Institution of Justice (NIJ) defines forensic science as the application of science such as physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, engineering to matters of law. Forensic science can help investigators understand how blood splatter patterns occurs- That is physic, learn the composition of the sources of evidence such as drugs and chase materials-Chemistry, or determine the identification of unknown suspects-Biology.”
He added: “The National Institution of Justice (NIJ) further identifies that forensic science plays a vital role in the criminal justice system to provide specific basic information through the analysing of physical evidence. During the investigation, evidence is collected at a crime scene or from a person analysed in a crime laboratory and then the result presented at court. Through this forensic laboratory, the Royal St. Christopher and police for can call upon specialised skilled and trained of its employees to assist in the solving of cases.”
Brandy, on behalf COP Queeley encouraged officers to uphold good community policing.
“While I applaud and recongsise the critical importance of scientific examination , I remind officers of the force that nothing is better than a good old fashion policing including stop and search, executing search warrants, good interviews and good community policing, and those must be an integral part of our daily investigations.”
Prime Minister and Minister of National Security Dr. Timothy Harris described the occasion “historic”.
He addressed the issue of safety and security saying:“The peace order, safety and security and good governance are the responsibilities which our cabinet takes very seriously. Today we enhance our capacity to consolidate the peace, the safety and security of our country through the addition of the forensic laboratory.”
Dr. Harris who is the Parliamentary Representative for Constituency Seven which included the community of Tabernacle highlighted that the area “happens to be here” whilst noting that it is because “we have good space.”
Head of the Forensic Department Narace Ramnarine spoke about the value of the work carried out at such a facility.
“Forensic plays an increasingly important role in the prevention and detection and this is likely to continue in the foreseeable future as the rate of technological change quickens. The challenge therefore is for organisations to adopt new skills and procedures that can maximise the forensic science into their investigations and the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force is doing just that by turning this vision into reality.”