Government Encouraged That Security Forces are Organised…Says PM

Prime Minister Bruce Golding says the initial results being seen so far in the fight against crime have been encouraging.
However, he has emphasized that the country is nowhere near a point of celebration as there was much more work to be done. ‘ I am satisfied that the police force and the security forces generally , are organized; that they are determined and that they have a sufficient body of intelligence that will enable them to be effective in the strategies being pursued’, Mr. Golding said.
The Prime Minister said the question of securing conviction and imposing punishment is critical to the crime fighting strategies. But the biggest deterrent to crime is the likelihood of being caught and punished. ‘If people feel that the system is so loose or that it is so inept that the chances of committing a crime and getting away with it are good, it doesn’t matter what punishment you provide.’
He said a lot of attention must therefore be paid to detection and apprehension and ensuring that once you are apprehended you will be treated on a basis that is appropriate to the seriousness of the crime for which you are being charged.
Prime Minister Golding was speaking this morning at the Post-Cabinet Press Briefing following his presentation in Parliament yesterday during which he outlined the Government’s new legislative measures to fight crime.
The new measures include an extended detention of criminal suspects from 24 to 72 hours, restriction on the granting of bail, extended sentencing provisions, majority of nine out of 12 jurors to decide on non-capital murder, access to restricted information held by other State agencies, use of non-invasive DNA testing for evidential purposes and new provisions for witness testimony.