Gov’t Commended on Efforts to Strengthen Security in the Region

Executive Director of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), Lynne Anne Williams, has commended the efforts of the Government of Jamaica to work with other Caribbean heads to strengthen security in the region.
She was speaking at the opening of the 12th Joint Meeting of the CARICOM Standing Committees of Commissioners of Police and Military Chiefs yesterday (Feb. 12 ), at the Sunset Jamaica Grande Resort in Ocho Rios, St. Ann.
She noted that “for some time now, the world has come to a consensus that the traditional, nation-based approaches of the past are unequal to the most pressing challenges of the present” and a collaborative effort was required to “address crime and security concerns confronting our Caribbean nations at this time.”
The two-day meeting, which concludes today (Feb.13), will finalise security preparations for the Fifth Summit of the Americas, which will be held in Port of Spain, Trinidad, from April 17 to 19.
Discussions are being focussed on the implementation of the Regional Investigative Management System (RIMS), the Regional Ballistic Information Network (RIBIN), National Joint Coordination Centres, and the CARICOM/INTERPOL Agreement.
“The meeting will also look at continued enhancement of the regional forensics capacity and of course, those development programmes that aim to augment human resource capacity within the law enforcement arena,” Ms. Williams said, adding that in-depth discussion and analyses of the current security environment in Haiti and its consequent impact on neighbouring CARICOM member states, was also a part of the discussion agenda.
Stating that the meeting was timely, Ms. Williams said that it also presented the opportunity to turn attention to the security commitments that were made in April 2008, during the 13th Special Meeting of Heads of Government, which was held in Port of Spain.