National Address by Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Honourable Dr. Terrance M. Drew, Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Fellow Kittitians and Nevisians, and those of you who choose St Kitts and Nevis as your home, Good Evening.

I speak to you tonight not only in my capacity as Prime Minister and Minister responsible for National Security, but as a proud Kittitian, born and raised in Monkey Hill, and a man who has dedicated his life to saving and preserving life.

Every Life is Precious. We therefore cannot tolerate the willful violence that has resulted in the unacceptable number of homicides over the past two decades in our Federation, and particularly the loss of life over the past few days and months.

Thus far, in 2024, we have lost 19 friends, family and neighbours to violence. In the past 5 days alone, we lost 3 of our citizens to gun violence. On behalf of the Government, the people of this Federation, and my family, I express our deepest condolences to the loved ones of the victims, as you grieve. Rest assured, my Administration will do everything it can to bring justice for your families!

We have lost our way as a society! Every homicide is one too many. Remember, Every Life is Precious. We cannot become numb to any violent crime. 

The National Security Council, which I lead, has not become numb. We meet weekly to ensure that strong policies are created to sustain a safe St Kitts and Nevis. This is the responsibility of any Government. The National Security Council includes the Heads of all national security agencies in the Federation.

As a result of the carefully crafted policies of this Council, we are seeing a rate of 50% detection on homicides for the year, an increase over last year. This is admirable, but, for me, not good enough. Not only should we detect, charge and prosecute the destructive criminals, but we have to prevent their nefarious actions.

Of those 19 human beings killed this year, the intelligence I have received suggests that two-thirds of those homicides were as a result of gang violence and reprisals. I want that statistic to sink in. We have a serious gang problem in our society. This societal ill, reflected throughout the region, has been serious for us for at least two decades now, but it has worsened because of the introduction of money into the equation. Not only do the gangs have numerous members, but because of the ill-advised peace programme, they have significant amounts of money used to buy influence, and dangerous sophisticated guns, which are used to carry out heinous acts

This is why the focus in our National Security Council meeting earlier today was suppression. Suppression is preventing the inception of crime, or preventing expansion of criminal activity. Let it be known, the National Security Council has agreed to a drastic change in suppression activities. 

I am warning everyone, from today onward there will be constant vehicular checks and searches. There will be constant searches of the homes of gang members, their partners and affiliates. Illegal tints on cars will be removed. We will be relentless in our suppression of criminal activities. These are the measures that are necessary to not only locate the persons invoolve in  destructive criminal activities, but remove their firearms and weapons off our streets.

I therefore appeal to the general public for your patience, understanding and cooperation as we do what is necessary to arrest this scourge of gangsterism and violent crime.

Those involve in  criminal activities can no longer feel comfortable, in their homes, in their gathering spots, nor moving around the Federation. I implore all persons involved in gangs and criminal activity to change their lives, and change now. If not, we will find you. We will prosecute you. We will jail you.

Not only will the Police Force and Army be on our streets, but the Joint Security Operation Tactical Team (JSOTT) will be strategically patrolling hotspots.

In my last national address, I spoke about 4 programmes to create a safer St Kitts and Nevis. Here is my progress report:

I pledged that there would be Increased Security Presence in our communities through various methods. Security personnel were specifically delegated for this purpose, which had been so effective, that persons were complaining directly to me about the police being constantly outside their doors.

I pledged that there would be Further engagement of regional and international security experts to work along with our Forces. I am pleased to report that:

The Regional Security System came to St Kitts and Nevis on numerous occasions, conducted interviews and analysis, and recently submitted a report to the Ministry.

Various officials from the Ministry and the national security forces attended local and regional training programmes, receiving training from FBI agents, USAID Criminal Dynamics and Caricom IMPACS.

I pledged that we would Strengthen the Intelligence Capabilities of our Security Forces. This has progressed steadily, especially with the utilization of the Fusion Center, leading to the increased detection rate I referenced earlier. In fact, this week, it is through our enhanced intelligence infrastructure that a suspect for one of the recent homicides left St Kitts and we were able to find him in a neighbouring island. We continue to request the assistance of the general public to bolster our intelligence. 

I pledged that there would be expansion of the CCTV infrastructure islandwide and other Evidence Gathering capabilities. We continue to build out our CCTV infrastructure, which has been one of the most impactful tools in acquiring evidence used in the investigation and charging those accused of crimes. In short order, the entire island will be covered with CCTV. 

There has been progress, however, we will not rest on our laurels. There is more we intend to do to reduce the incidents of violent crimes and make people feel safer!

When I took office, the annual budget for the Ministry of National Security was $65.6 million. We increased the National Security budget to $74.6 million in 2023 and $79.3 million in 2024. This additional budgetary allocation has allowed us to—

To purchase more vehicles for mobile patrol of the Police Force; 

To procure drones leading to the imminent establishment a drone unit for surveillance purposes; 

To reestablish a K9 Unit to detect illegal drugs, firearms and ammunition; 

To establish, in partnership with the US-RMAC, a Coastal Radar System to detect any unlawful coastal entry into our territorial waters and smuggling of humans, drugs and firearms; and

To facilitate the recruitment, training and passing out of 26 new police officers.

We also took firm Parliamentary action, by implementing the Firearm Amendment Act in May 2024, in which penalties were increased significantly such that persons in possession of illegal firearms and ammunition can serve up to 40 years in prison and be fined up to $500,000. We also have embarked on a comprehensive criminal justice reform exercise which has seen the Justice Interference Prevention Act passed in June 2024 and other legislation soon to come, such as legislation to allow gang-related trials to be conducted by a judge only in the High Court.

I have constantly advocated for violence to be treated as a public health issue, a position formally adopted by CARICOM Member States. I am also pleased that, for the first time, in June 2024, the United States Surgeon General listed gun violence as a public health emergency. We are not alone in this battle against violent crime.

The holistic approach to crime fighting led us to create the National Security Taskforce for treating Crime as a Public Health Crisis, consisting of members from the various arms of civil society and whose chief consultant is Dr. Izben Williams.

An all-of-society approach is the only way we can see the end of this scourge of violent crime on our society. We have therefore implemented various social interventions to provide a positive impact on our people, especially our young men and most vulnerable. I love and care for all our people, including our young men.

We have expanded our Mental Health Treatment Capacity and Services

We have adopted the National Drug Abuse Policy 2023-2028

We have implemented the Neighbourhood Intervention Team

We have reintroduced the Sea Cadets and Infantry Cadets

We have increased the number of Scout Programmes in Primary Schools

We have introduced more sport competitions into primary and secondary schools

We have introduced the MAGIC Programme into Primary Schools and the TAPS Programme into High Schools, both being police drug and anti-social intervention programmes

When we took office, we engaged a consultant to review the Peace Programme and collect data on its participants and all vulnerable persons associated with gang activity. On analysis of that data and advice, we established the ELEVATE Programme, which seeks to positively engage marginalized and at-risk youth and adults, equipping them with technical skills to realize their full potential as citizens and partners in nation building.  

All of these measures were well thought out and implemented by this Administration, in good faith, so as to bring a positive change to our society. 

However, Government cannot do it alone. Fighting crime is not a matter of partisan politics. Rather, it transcends political boundaries. It takes all of us. This is everybody’s business. It is a whole-of-society approach.

It takes the Parents. The Family Members. The Teachers. The Church Leaders. The Neighbours. The Partners. The Community. Civil Society Organizations. ALL of us must play our part.

This is why I have directed that the Ministry of National Security to begin preparations to host a National Consultation on Crime and violence among other crime fighting initiatives.

The National Consultation on Crime will invite all political organizations, all civil society organizations, and anyone who cares about this Federation, to come to the table to provide their ideas and plans for us to end this decades-long scourge of violent crime. This is my pledge.

In conclusion, I say We can do this. We will do this. We all have a role to play. Let’s change course and redirect all our efforts to creating the best St. Kitts and Nevis we can have.

May God Bless all of you and may God Bless our Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.