Caribbean law enforcement agencies must not consider the term “turf” when it comes to fighting crime, Barbados’ Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson told regional police chiefs yesterday.
When crime fighting and prevention agencies engage in turf war and refuse to share assets and information, “the only winner is the criminal”, the Chief Justice said.
Delivering the feature address at the opening of a two-day meeting of the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police (ACCP) at Divi Southwinds Hotel, St Lawrence, Christ Church, Sir Marston said the sharing of information should be “a natural response and a natural instinct”.
The Chief Justice cited instances where deportees from the United States and Britain returned to the region with sophisticated understandings of how best to carry out their criminal product.
“What had happened was there were people getting arrested, getting tried, being sentenced and sent to prison, but the prison did not know they were deportees . . . and so these criminals were essentially outwitting those at the prison,” he said. (CA)
