By: Spokesman Newsroom
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Thursday 6th November 2025) -Police have revealed that red light violators will soon be issued tickets.
“Another thing that will be coming soon, and we are saying it here, we are soon going to have red light cameras to detect red light violations,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Cromwell Henry revealed while speaking on Freedom FM’s ‘Issues’ programme on Wednesday 5th March 2025, hosted by Jamiella McPhail featuring members of the Police High Command.
Commissioner of Police James Sutton and Assistant Police Commissioner responsible for Operations Travis Rogers, Assistant Commissioner of Police Andre Mitchell and Assistant Commissioner of Police responsible for Administration, Resources, Technology and Intelligence- James Francis were in the studio as well.
COP James provided summarized statistics for the photo radar data , recently introduced by the police which has seen over 200 violators.
“Between the period 15th of October to 31st of October in the 20 mile per hour zone there were 230 violators; average speed 48.44 miles per hour or 72 kilometers; the lowest speed 40 miles per hour or 64 kilometers; high speed 65 miles per hour or 104 kilometers. In the 40 mile per hour zone, total recorded offenders 76; average speed 61.26 miles per hour or 98 kilometers; the lowest speed 55 miles per hour or 88 kilometers, high speed 83 miles per hour or 134 kilometers,” he shared.
Host Jamiella McPhail pointed out that some people are of the view that the public was not properly informed that such a policy was coming on stream to which Henry noted that the public was given sufficient notice about the photo radar system before its launch.
“We did send out a press release prior, I think about a week before we started. We sent out a press release entitled Photo Radar Coming Soon. And I think one media person asked me, well, we’ve been hearing about this for such a long time. When is soon? And I told him, within the month. And this was a media person asking me, when is soon? Because they’ve been hearing about this for a long time now. So for people to say that they had no prior notice, it is not accurate because we did send out a press release. You could go back to our Facebook page, you could go to our website, and you will see that press release early in October, and we started after the middle of October. So there was ample notice.”
Responding to the host’s follow-up question about the importance of putting in those measures in place at this present time, COP Sutton replied: “We have been implementing traffic stops for quite some time and one of the things that we would have realized-the VCPs, the vehicle checkpoints-is that when the police go out to conduct these operations, persons will be calling persons and it would be defeating the whole purpose. So we really want compliance because we prefer to have safety over convenience as we continue to make St. Kitts a safe place. So that is the objective behind it-how we could maximize technology to the best advantage for law enforcement.”
Host McPhail also indicated to the police that people are of the view that the police putting these measures in place-even the stop and search and the speed checks-is just a way for the government to make some money, as she questioned if this is the motivation for it?
Commissioner Sutton responded: “No. The motivation behind it is what happened last year, December, when we had a number of fatalities. The public called out to the police and we had to find ways to respond. And we respond in this way because one of the pillars was better use of technology. We went out, we had to conduct a number of RFPs to get persons to submit proposals, how best to partner with the police, and that was the objective behind it.”
Henry added: “And so, if persons think that that is the government’s way of raising revenue, then they can prevent the government from getting revenue from it. Just don’t commit any breaches. Just don’t speed and the government will not get any revenue.”
He went on to say: “Another thing that will be coming soon, and we are saying it here, we are soon going to have red light cameras to detect red light violations. We get complaints about, and we have a number of accidents at the traffic lights where persons run the red light and cause accidents, some serious. And so there’s an RFP [Request For Proposal] out now that, as the Commissioner just mentioned, for persons to tender for that project where we would install cameras to capture persons running the red light. And so we hope people do not say that that is revenue.”
Commissioner of Police James Sutton, during his remarks on the programme, spoke about the force being focused on protecting every community and strengthening public confidence.
“Our policing strategy is guided by seven strategic pillars which outline how we prevent crime, serve the public, and maintain order across the Federation. These pillars include preventing and improving our visibility, deepening community partnership, enhancing officer training and leadership, modernizing through technology, strengthening agency collaboration, applying data-driven decision making, and promoting safer roadways. Together these areas form the backbone of our policing approach combining enforcement with prevention, modern tools with human connection, and accountability with service.”
He added: “But policing alone cannot end the violence. Real safety requires unity, cooperation, and active community participation. Every citizen, every organization, every neighborhood has a role to play in creating a safer space for our families and our future generations.”