Minister of National Security, the Hon. Wayne Munroe appeared at a press briefing held at the Office of the Prime Minister where he addressed issues within his portfolio, one of which was combating crime.
He told reporters, “we have to continue to aggressively recruit to not only meet our attrition rates but to increase by eight or nine hundred the number of officers available to the Commissioner of Police. In the same way we have to recruit to increase the numbers of Defence Force personnel. The Commodore currently provides to the Commissioner of Police some of his marines to supplement the police in their patrol efforts. You will see that the Commodore for instance, is supplying some of his marines in Operation Secure, which is where we’re aggressively going after the immigration issue. So all of our law enforcement agencies are cooperating to make sure that we have cover. They’re not operating in silos anymore.”
Munroe also spoke on the efforts of Urban Renewal to remove abandoned buildings and derelict vehicles in communities. “You remove the old cars cause people hide guns and drugs in cars. You remove the old homes because people hide guns and drugs in old homes. I’ve been lobbying in my constituency to have the old city lodge that catches a fire every three or four months demolished cause we’ve had two murders in the Okra Hill area that was facilitated by that dilapidated structure. So dilapidated structures don’t only pose a vector control problem with rats and other vermin but it is somewhere where the other vermin, the human vermin can hide, where they can hide their guns, where they can hide their drugs. So removing them not only beautifies the neighbourhood but it removes a hiding place.”
