Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 25th, 2021 (ZIZ News) Divisional Commander in charge of District ‘A’ Superintendent Cromwell Henry says he is doing well after being one of the first persons to receive the AstraZeneca Covid19 vaccine on Monday.
On this week’s edition of Policing with You, the Superintendent joined host Inspector James Francis and shared his experience, noting that receiving the vaccine was reminiscent of vaccines he has received in the past.
Superintendent Henry said other officers who received the vaccine have experienced minor side effects but have since recovered.
On Monday, 70 persons including government officials and frontline workers received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine at a ceremony at the Newtown Community Center.
Policing with You airs every Thursday from 9:15 am on the Morning Show with GCUE.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 4th 2021 (ZIZ News) Divisional Commander for District A, Superintendent Cromwell Henry revealed that a positive Covid-19 patient was accidentally discharged from quarantine into the community via public transportation which resulted in over 20 persons being placed in quarantine.
Divisional Commander for District A, Superintendent Cromwell Henry revealed that a positive Covid-19 patient was accidentally discharged from quarantine into the community via public transportation which resulted in over 20 persons being placed in quarantine.
The Superintendent made the revelation during his presentation at the National Emergency Operations Centre Covid-19 weekly briefing on Wednesday.
He said once the task force was made aware of the incident they quickly responded to isolate the individual and to locate and quarantine all the persons that came into close contact.
The Superintendent explained that the protocols at the quarantine site were reviewed and immediate action has been taken to prevent similar incidents.
He said contact tracing in this case is still on-going along with a police investigation to determine whether or not criminal charges will be filed.
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Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 30th, 2020 (ZIZ News) The positive Covid-19 patient who left isolation at the Park Hyatt Hotel and was apprehended at the RLB airport has appeared before the court.
According to Superintendent Cromwell Henry, on Wednesday George McCumisky was arrested and taken before the Magistrate where he was ordered to pay a nearly five thousand dollar fine or face jail time.
Superintendent Henry said McCumisky is currently in police custody pending the payment of the fine.
He said these penalties are standard practice for persons who break quarantine.
Divisional Commander of District A, Superintendent Cromwell Henry.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 20, 2020 (RSCNPF): The Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force has a lot to be proud of for the role of its Officers in the implementation of the CariSECURE project. Their efforts, as well as those of the National Team, and the Police Force’s weekly radio show “Policing With You” were highlighted in the August-October 2020 edition of the CariSECURE Newsletter.
The radio programme received a full-page write-up in an article entitled CariSECURE PIF Featured on National Radio in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The article states that “The CariSECURE Project was given a boost in visibility as part of a Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force (RSCNPF)-initiated special education and awareness campaign to increase public knowledge of the recently introduced Police Incident Form (PIF).” The popular weekly programme is aired every Thursday at 9:15 a.m. on ZIZ Radio and is streamed live on the Facebook pages of ZIZ Broadcasting Corporation and The Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force, in addition to ZIZ’s Youtube Channel.
On that particular edition, CariSECURE Readiness Manager for the RSCNPF, Superintendent Cromwell Henry and Data Manager, Sergeant Winston Thompson, provided information about the Police Incident Form that is now being used by the Police. The article notes that information coming out of the Police Public Relations Department shows that the programme “reached a wide cross section of Kittitians and Nevisians at home and across the diaspora. In addition to the many individuals who tuned in via radio, the listenership included approximately 2,000 persons from ZIZ’s Facebook page and over 900 more on the Police Force’s page.”
Also in the newsletter is an article entitled Nine Caribbean Countries Leading the Way in Data-Driven Crime Prevention in which it states that nine Caribbean countries are leading the way in data-driven crime prevention and are now certified in Crime Analysis. Among the nine countries is St. Kitts and Nevis from which a team – that included Police Officers – recently participated in a 7-month Regional Crime Analysis Training Course with the Arizona State University. This course was meant to bolster the individual and collective competencies of beneficiary territories to enhance regional citizen security and employ reliable data to crime prevention efforts. Several countries and agencies received an Honorary Mention and Special Awards for case studies and course projects including St. Kitts and Nevis whose team received a Special Award for Best Tactical Analysis Report thanks largely to Sergeant Thompson’s hard work.
In another article in the newsletter entitled CariSECURE Initiates Project Working Groups (PWGs) in Target Countries, it explains that CariSECURE’s Team Leader John Walcott introduced the PWG concept during the recently held series of National Task Force meetings and urged beneficiary countries to set about establishing these bodies with haste. “Since Mr. Walcott’s call to action, the teams in St. Kitts and Nevis have been proactive in establishing their PWG and have already held two meetings…” the article states. Superintendent Henry and Sergeant Thompson represent the Police Force in that Group.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, September 23, 2020 (ZIZ News): It has been two weeks since the reopening of schools and early childhood establishments in the federation. But before they were able to reopen they had to ensure that the Covid-19 protocols stipulated by the government were in place.
In a telephone interview with ZIZ news, Divisional Commander for District A, Superintendent Cromwell Henry revealed that there were still some early childhood establishments that were operating outside of the Covid-19 guidelines.
He said some of the issues observed by the task force at the early childhood unit included a lack of social distancing in classrooms.
Superintendent Henry added that the task force will allow the owners to fix minor issues but in other cases where there are major violations the establishment will not be allowed to operate until they rectify the issues.
He said that early childhood establishments should not be allowed to operate unless they are issued a certificate by the early childhood unit task force.
Superintendent Henry noted that parents can also play a role in ensuring these establishments follow the guidelines by bringing violations observed to the owners and if they are not rectified they can then make a report to the early childhood unit.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, August 27, 2020 (ZIZ News):Nine members of the federation’s security forces are in quarantine following a recent smuggling operation at Palmetto Bay.
That is according Divisional Commander for District A, Superintendent Cromwell Henry who said it was done as a precautionary measure.
“Presently from that smuggling operation we have up to about nine members of the security forces who are in quarantine, not that we are saying that they contracted the virus but as a precautionary measure because they came in to close contact with these persons we have to take all the precautions and not take any chances less other officers become exposed unnecessarily.
Superintendent Henry was at the time speaking on Thursday’s episode of Policing with You.
He spoke of some of Covid-19 protocols in place to ensure the safety of the officers while on duty.
“We could take the basic minimum precautions that we advise everyone else -wear your mask, wear gloves where necessary, do as much as you can to cover your nose and your mouth but inevitably the police will have to come in contact with individuals at some point and we can only hope that these protective measures that we take – wearing the mask in particular work.”
Superintendent Henry said the officers in quarantine are from the St. Kitts and Nevis Defence Force, Customs, Coast Guard and Police.
He also said that the persons who were remanded were tested and the test results came back negative.
“Policing with You” airs every Thursday on ZIZ radio at 9:15am during the “Morning Show”.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, August 20, 2020 (ZIZ News):The Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force will be introducing a new police incident form by the end of the month.
The forms are used to collect information about an incident and the victim.
During Thursday’s Edition of Policing with You, Divisional Commander of District A, Superintendent Cromwell Henry said that the new forms will require more data.
“We are trying to get as much data as possible so that when we do an analysis we could have a wider set of data points to analyse so for example we might be able to determine what denomination are targeted or victimized most,” he said.
Sergeant Winston Thompson of the Local Intelligence Office gave some examples of the kinds of information that persons will be asked to provide on the form.
“ We’re looking at the socio economic and socio demographic data that we previously would not have collected at this point in investigation, usually it’s when the matter goes before the court we might have to collect some of that data pertaining to a specific individual when a social enquiry is being made or when what we call an antecedent is prepared for court so in order for us to do our extensive analysis of crime we have to collect that data as early as possible so we can have the data available to do that analysis.”
The introduction of these forms is part of the Police Record Information Management System which was launched last year under the CariSecure Project.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 20, 2020 (SKNIS): As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the general public is encouraged to adapt to the new normal outlined in the Emergency Regulations as a result of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus.
During the NEOC COVID-19 Briefing for July 17, 2020, Superintendent Cromwell Henry of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force reminded citizens and residents that the new normal created under the Emergency Regulations were implemented to keep everyone safe.
“Emergency Regulations have been published to guide our behaviour to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. These regulations were not intended to be punitive nor were they intended to make life difficult for residents, but they do require a shift away from our normal way of life,” said Superintendent Henry. “A new normal in a sense is therefore required if we are to avoid becoming sick.”
The Superintendent outlined the requirements of the Regulations.
“The new normal requires us to maintain a physical distance of 3-6 feet from everyone around us when in public. It requires us to avoid social gatherings and [practice] social distancing. It requires us to wear masks when in public and it requires us to improve our hand hygiene and sanitization behaviour, to close up businesses and be at our homes at a specific time,” he said. “Failure to adapt to this new normal could result in significant criminal penalties.”
Superintendent Henry reiterated that the main objective of the regulations is to save lives and help keep everyone healthy. “So, as we make the adjustments, we must understand that we cannot do things the way we are accustomed to,” he added.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 11, 2020 (SKNIS): Bar operators on the Frigate Bay Strip were granted permission to close their establishments later than usual since reopening under new regulations due to the COVID-19 Pandemic in St. Kitts and Nevis.
“Following a very lively and productive discussion last Thursday, July 02, between the Task Force and bar operators on Frigate Bay, I am pleased to report that there was consensus on the way forward with respect to closing times. The bar representatives present made a compelling case and it was agreed that they be allowed to close at 11 p.m. on weekends and 10:30 p.m. on weekdays, said Superintendent Cromwell Henry at the NEOC COVID-19 Daily Briefing for July 10, 2020.
Superintendent Henry said that concerns grew over whether or not the new closing times will provide persons sufficient time to get home before the midnight curfew. He added that the bar owners stood firmly by the decision and worked to ensure that persons adhered to the closing times.
“I am pleased to report that over the last weekend we have received good cooperation from the bar owners and their patrons in that by midnight all the bars were closed and patrons had left for their homes. We look forward to this continued cooperation,” said the Superintendent.
Of note, is the lack of adherence to the protocols that are in place to safeguard persons from the spread of the virus.
“We are still not totally satisfied with the compliance with the wearing of masks in public spaces, particularly at bars and restaurants,” he said, while appealing to citizens and residents to observe safety protocols when in public spaces. “Life, as we know it, has changed and we will have to adjust to the new normal. We cannot wait until there is an outbreak to begin to adjust our habits, it will be too late then. We have to begin now so that when that time comes, we can mitigate the impact because we were adhering to the protocols that were recommended to prevent the spread,”
Superintendent Henry re-emphasized the importance of wearing a face mask, good hand hygiene and sanitization practices, as well as physical and social distancing, noting that these practices will benefit everyone.
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