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Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 13, 2022 (SKNIS): Law enforcement in St. Kitts and Nevis is reporting an improved 43 percent in the rate of detected crime for 2021, the highest number in the past 20 years. The internationally accepted crime detection rate is 33 percent.

Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, shared the news on Thursday (February 10, 2022) during his first press conference of the year. He reported that the figure is an improvement over the 40 percent and 39.3 percent detection rate in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Additionally, it was noted that there were 13 homicides in 2021. Ten years ago (2011), a record number of 35 homicides were recorded.

“The Police will aim to reduce this figure to single digits in the near future through intelligence-led proactive policing and improved community policing,” Dr. Harris stated. “The successful build-out of programmes in support of our Alternative Lifestyle Pathway Programme, the Explorers Club and better utilization of resources such as our CCTV monitoring system and Forensic Lab will complement our efforts in sustaining reductions in major crimes.”

The Ministry of National Security was allocated $80.1 million to fund its expenditure for the 2022 fiscal year.