PS Browne says meeting of RSS Training Institute Practice Committee is timely

BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, OCTOBER 2ND 2012 (CUOPM) – Permanent Secretary for the Anti-Crime Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister, Her Excellency Mrs. Astona Browne said Monday that a meeting of the Regional Security System (RSS) Training Institute Practice Committee is timely as it focuses on devising a strategy for capacity building in the critical areas of law enforcement in particular and security in general.

“Indeed the purpose of this week’s meeting of the Committee can only be accomplished through focused attention on fulfilling the objectives set. These must yield the desired outcome as far as your mandate and programme of work is concerned. Devising a strategy for leadership management is a critical area of focus for the security agencies of the Region. Indeed, the implementation of the various plans of action and standing operational procedures that form part of the day to day operations of the security agencies, would require clear policy guidelines and that important ingredient of leadership… that ability to manage effectively at all levels,” she told participants,” she told the opening session at the Bird Rock Beach Hotel.

Mrs. Browne said that if the regional security agencies are to face the current security challenges in the present era where the growing threats to security are no longer geographically confined, there must be that capacity to manage effectively as well as to understand the nature of the threats that confront us as a Region and to devise the requisite strategies to confront them.

She said success in the field of security demands a proactive approach to management, for the most part and requires the capacity to analyze trends and set clear, precise and implementable objectives that will yield the desired results and make the necessary impact on crime fighting.

“We must be prepared to factor in modern approaches and mechanism if we are to take the operation and management of the regional agencies to the next level,” said Mrs. Browne.

She said that the increased incidences involving firearm related crimes in all of the Member States, is not only an area of concern but demands coordinated action at the regional level and was pleased that included in the objectives is ‘an assessment for the implementation of a recurrent firearms re-qualification,’ and commended the Committee for its foresight in this regard.

Mrs. Browne noted that in his address to the General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly, St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas made mention of the continuous flow of foreign made firearms to the region and the dire consequences that they continue to have on human lives and the negative impact on our efforts at creating the required environment for sustainable development and hence the economic stability of the region.

“In the aftermath of the recently concluded Conference on Small and Light Weapons he supported the call for internationally set standards and controls governing the illicit flow of conventional weapons and reiterated that the time has come for the establishment, as a matter of priority, of an Arms Trade Treaty. The inclusion of an assessment for firearms re-qualification reflects a clear understanding of the critical areas that the regional agencies must begin to address and which must be integral to the areas of priority on the curriculum of our Regional Security Training Institutions,” said Mrs. Browne.

She said the harmonized approach to training standards for policing in the Region will be informed in large measure by the outcome of the initial needs assessment that was undertaken and the best practices that exist at the international level.

Integral to the designing of the Regional Training Institute and the related training activities, she stated, is the need to build into the systems approach to training the critical components of evaluation, using performance indicators that are measurable and which will require the collection of data and provide the level of analysis that will guide the decision making process, as we advance to the next step.

On the issue of the narcotics trade “we make the case, repeatedly, that we are sandwiched between the consuming nations of the north and the producing countries of the south and the need to strengthen our capabilities to strategize in dealing with the deleterious effects of the fall out of the drug trade on the small transshipment states of our region and the need to develop our maritime capabilities to intercept the perpetrators who ply our waters in pursuit of their illicit trade,” said Mrs. Browne.

She added: “We understand the clear nexus between gun and drug related crimes and as we grapple with the fact that we are not manufacturers of these deadly weapons, we must continue to develop mechanisms that will build our capacity in addressing the negative consequences.”