CARICOM Leaders Seek Enhanced Cooperation for Criminal Extraditions: St Lucia Prime Minister Addresses Crime Concerns

CARICOM leaders are trying to find ways to ensure criminals who break the law in one member state can be easily extradited.

Prime Minister of St Lucia Philip J. Pierre made that disclosure on Thursday as he expressed concerns about crime in his country and the region.

“We [CARICOM] have agreed that crime has become a health issue because any time somebody is shot or stabbed, it costs us to divert resources to cure that person.

“There is room for more cooperation and St Lucia will be working actively with all our neighbours to solve that problem,” he said on Thursday, the second day of the 48th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM at Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lord’s Castle, St Philip.

Gang-related

“We have issues with gang-related crime, which is prevalent in the entire region. We want more coordination between getting people who are accused of crimes in one island and getting them to another island, but it’s not a very easy process because each island has their own laws,” he added.

Pierre said that to combat the crime in his country, they also had to tackle overall unemployment, which dropped to 11 per cent.

He noted that in 2021 when he took office, youth unemployment was between 38 and 40 per cent, but that had now been reduced to 18 per cent.

Police force

The prime minister said they were also doing more to strengthen the Royal St Lucia Police Force.

“The attorney general is in the process of trying to quicken the trial process. We have put more resources in the police force than any government except during the time the Labour Party was in office,” he said.

Extra hands

“As we speak, we have recruited for this year 119 extra hands in the police force. We are looking at 80 new recruits to come in and 80 more before the year has ended.

“We are building a brand new police headquarters . . . the most modern in the region and it costs over $40 million.”

The St Lucia leader said they were also making plans to improve the judicial system.

“We understand the issue and St Lucia is actively pursuing change. We are

in the process of building a Hall of Justice, where we can have all the courts under one umbrella to hasten the process.”

Meanwhile, during a break at the conference, other regional leaders, including Prime Minister of The Bahamas Philip Davis, expressed concerns about the crime situation in the region.