For how much longer will government pass the buck on IMPACS?

The fall-out from IMPACS continues to be suffered by the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF) and the wider Saint Lucian public that depends on it for its security. As Prime Minister Allen Chastanet mildly put it recently: “IMPACS has had a devastating effect on morale.” Our homicide figures don’t help. So far this year there have been 29, two the result of still unresolved police shootings.

But Chastanet is optimistic. Saint Lucia has not stood still following the US withdrawal of support for our police force. On Tuesday the prime minister told reporters: “It would be nice to have US assistance but we’re finding ways to deal with these problems ourselves. We have re-opened the forensic lab; we have gotten our maritime boats up and running again; our radar system is functioning; we have purchased a new communications system for our police and have purchased CCTV cameras.”

He said his government was “in the process of bringing two new judges to help with the huge backlog of unsettled criminal cases. We have added more social workers. We had a great meeting yesterday discussing our new social system of distributing benefits to the more vulnerable in our society.”

As for the IMPACS report first submitted in the time of Prime Minister Kenny Anthony, Chastanet said: “At no point has my government indicated we’re having difficulty in moving forward where that’s concerned.” He repeated his usual reminder that “the DPP is exclusively responsible for proceeding with what we know as the IMPACS. The role of my administration is to make sure that he has the human resources and the financial resources to undertake the level of investigation demanded.” It is a statement that the prime minister has made several times, as has justice minister Hermangild Francis. However, neither has said what is holding up prosecution of the IMPACS report delivered to Kenny Anthony four years ago.

Chastanet also took the opportunity on Tuesday to reassure the public that his administration will “continue to invest in and strengthen our police force. I don’t want anybody to believe for one minute that the police force is weaker today than it was. It’s not! And we remain absolutely committed to solving the overall problems of crime.”

That the force is not weaker today than when under the previous administration is nothing to write home about, as well the complaining public knows. Chastanet’s response to that observation: “The IMPACS report has about 40 recommendations. We’ve completed almost all of them.” He pointed to progress made in the way police killings have been handled since IMPACS: “Some of the police officers have been acquitted and some have been found guilty.”

But the problems that had led to Operation Restore Confidence, and before it Operation Restore Peace, remain. IMPACS has only exacerbated the situation. Recently the Police Welfare Association’s President, Travis Chicot, highlighted many of the challenges confronting the force, saying, “We continue to agitate for a standardised issuance of weapons and kits for police officers.” He said police officers still have to share protective vests. “It is unhealthy. It is hazardous and officers should not be required to wear items or kits that others have worn before.”