PHILIPSBURG:--- Fighting crime effectively requires constant cooperation between law enforcement agencies and permanent sharing of information. Using the newest technology can help in achieving this. Friday August 23 the Minister of Justice, Mr Dennis Richardson MBA, opened the kick-off session for the development and implementation of the new Justice Information System.
Information driven crime fighting and technology driven crime scene investigations are examples of how important technology has become in the fight against crime. The first result of the new Justice Information System, the Child Abuse Reporting System, will be ready for use this October.
Minister Richardson emphasized the importance of the project in his opening speech: "We have come a long way since 10-10-10, but many more things have to be done to move country Sint Maarten forward. This is one of the important steps necessary to make Sint Maarten a better and safer place for its citizens and visitors. With this new system authorities in Sint Maarten will be able to manage the necessary justice information ourselves in a cost-effective, efficient, transparent and flexible manner. All this can also speed up and improve our international information exchange with for instance France, the United States, Holland and Curacao, which all is very important in combating international crime such as human trafficking, illegal arms trade and the smuggling of drugs on a pro-active and strategic level".
Participating in the project are: the Sint Maarten Police Force, the Immigration and Border Management Services, the Court of Guardianship, the Prison, Customs, the National Detective Agency, the Financial Investigations Unit, the Parole board and the Ministry of Justice itself. Other national and international partners, both inside and outside the Justice domain, will be involved too: the Public Prosecutor, Interpol, Census, Chamber of Commerce, VROMI and others. Overall project management will be done by Mr Klaas Groen of the Sint Maarten Police Force. Progress will be monitored by a Steering Committee under the direction of the acting SG of the Ministry of Justice, Mr Udo Aron.
The KPMG project team has started preparations already and the project is aimed to be completed by the end of 2015. During these 15 months the applications will be developed and implemented gradually and users will be given training to manage and work with the new information system.
