Philipsburg:--- The Korps Politie St. Maarten (KPSM) has reasons to be proud of their overall performance for the year 2012 despite the challenges they faced. Chief Commissioner of Police Peter de Witte told SMN News in an exclusive interview on Monday that the police have seen a 25% decrease in capital offenses such as murders. De Witte said 2012 was indeed a very busy year for the police while it sucked their manpower and other resources. During 2012 KPSM also implemented the Community Policing which the top cop believes helped in deterring crimes in several communities.
KPSM solved five of the ten murders committed in 2010, thirteen of the eighteen murders committed in 2011 and 12 of the fourteen murders that were committed in 2012. In addition there was a significant decrease from 2010 in other crimes such as burglaries, robberies, car thefts, and mistreatment. De Witte told SMN News that KPSM has 41 detectives working in the Detective Department and there are times when they have to seek outside help. De Witte further explained that even though KPSM needs more manpower and officers with experience and knowledge he still managed to give five of his detectives to the Landsrecherche which he considers a great loss for KPSM. When asked why give he gave away his best investigators to another institution, De Witte said that institution is very important for any country in the Kingdom. "In a constitutional state we cannot do without an institution that guards the integrity of civil servants."
One of the murder cases that the police solved by themselves and are very proud of their performance is the Cupecoy murders (Micheal and Thelma King). De Witte said had the police not solved that case it would have been to the detriment to St. Maarten's tourism economy. The police managed to capture the three persons involved in the gruesome murder of the American citizens, all of whom have confessed their involvement to police. However, that case still has to go before the courts.
The top cop who began leading KPSM since June 2010 said he is still optimistic with the ongoing murder investigations because the detectives working on the cases are extremely dedicated and serious in bringing those responsible for the heinous murders to justice.
Preliminary figures show that in 2010 there were 253 cases of car thefts registered, 215 in the year 2011, and 183 in 2012.
As for violence with a weapon and threatening 82 cases were registered in 2010, 71 in 2011, and 58 in 2012. A striking decrease in the year 2012 was in burglaries. In the year 2010 there were 667 cases of burglaries registered, 519 in 2011, and 363 in 2012.
De Witte said there are several reasons for the decrease but the main reason for it is because the police arrested several persons who were involved in these crimes.
De Witte explained that while there were major decreases in certain areas of crime there has been an increase in other areas of crime. He said threatening a person or persons increased. In 2010 the police dealt with 124 cases of threatening, 187 in 2011, and 219 in 2012. There is also an increase in physical abuse since 2010 to 2012. In 2010, the police dealt with 171 cases involving physical abuse, 148 in 2011, and 210 in 2012.
A significant blow in the year 2012 for KPSM is the increase in sexual offenses some of which involved children. These offenses police have to deal with them delicately because many of them occurred in the family homes while some of the victims are children. KPSM sought outside help to investigate these cases because St. Maarten lacked persons that are specialized in investigating such cases. In 2010, KPSM investigated eight cases of sexual abuse, eight in 2011 while they investigated 13 sexual abuse cases in 2012. Some of these cases De Witte said were solved because the culprits were known to the victims.
De Witte said the police started its operations in 2010 (10/10/10) below zero, there was no manpower, no institutions locally yet the men in blue worked with dedication to solve some of the most gruesome cases that occurred on St. Maarten while he is sitting in the main seat. He said in several cases the police sought help from external institutions and their judicial partners. Help was provided by the RST, Marechaussee, Aruba, and Curacao Police Force to solve some cases such as the Vesuvius Investigation.
While the investigations in capital offenses used up the police manpower some cases were neglected, De Witte explained that the "Burglary Team" that was installed in 2011 managed to capture a suspect that committed 15 burglaries in the St. Peters area. "Because of this team the police managed to solve a lot more of house burglaries because they managed to arrest more suspects that were committing these crimes. Several of the culprits were convicted while some of the suspects were deported from St. Maarten." De Witte said KPSM has placed lots of focus on educating its officers so that they can perform optimally.
Chief Commissioner of Police Peter de Witte explained that one of the murder investigations in 2010 led the police to a group that was actively involved in car thefts and burglaries. This group was brought to justice and they are now behind bars. De Witte said the Vesuvius Investigation delayed the investigating of several other cases such as burglaries and robberies but that changed in 2012 when the suspect that was terrorizing residents of St. Peters was captured.
Reacting to the statements made by Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos in his 2011 annual report, De Witte said his management team did not see the report that was put together by Mos and sent to the Minister of Justice, Attorney General, and the media but when he learnt of it he immediately took action by discussing the matter with Mos. He said the island's Chief Prosecutor has agreed to ensure that the Police (KPSM) sees these reports and also given an opportunity to submit their reactions prior to it being finalized and dispatched. "As a partner we need to see these reports just the same way we work on our year plan together. We are supposed to be a team. I spoke to Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos and he agreed to do things differently in the future." When asked if there is any agreement in writing with Mos, De Witte said he did does not think there is need for a written agreement because he trusts the Chief Prosecutor.
Election Fraud Investigated but now Stalled.
While the top cop admitted that he gave away five of his best detectives to the Landsrecherche in order to guard the integrity of Civil Servants, this department is yet to continue the investigation of the Election Fraud that KPSM started and handed over to them. When asked how satisfied he is with the status of that case, De Witte said he is not satisfied with how this case has been handled. However, he made clear that it is the Prosecutor's Office that has to decide on which cases they will prosecute. "That case is no longer on my desk, we at KPSM did what we had to do and now it's the Prosecutor's Office that has to set its priorities. My hope is one day this case will be further investigated and prosecution will take place. For me the most important thing is that this case be investigated." When SMN News asked De Witte if he felt that there is political influence regarding the Election Fraud case, De Witte said when KPSM investigated the case there was no political influence from any side and he does not think anyone influenced the investigation, however, he still does not know what caused the delay.
As for the BAVPOLERS, De Witte said that he already delivered an advice to the Minister of Justice to ensure that the BAVPOLERS working with the police gets further training. He said he asked that these officers who got only four months training be given one year training locally before they are evaluated. Police Officers within the Kingdom have to attend the police school 18 months before they can join the police academy to further their education for another 18 months before they become fully fledged police officers. De Witte said he is happy with the BAVPOLERS that are working with the Police and they will follow the BPO training on St. Maarten.
RST verses the KPSM.
Currently there are political discussions taking place about the functioning of the RST. So far the budget for the RST has not yet been approved by the various countries. The Minister of Justice Roland Duncan and De Witte are expected to travel sometime this week where the discussion on the RST will continue. When SMN News asked De Witte for his opinion about the RST who works as a separate entity from the police, De Witte said he is in favor with the current discussion. He said the RST and the Police work closely together and they do cooperate but he believes that there is one police force in every country and one police chief. However, De Witte was reserved on what it's costing the Kingdom partners to maintain the RST in a separate entity. De Witte said that he is glad that the political discussion is now taking place and he will wait on the outcome of these discussions.
De Witte concluded the interview by saying that when he looked back at what St. Maarten had in 2010 to what they have now and how much cases they managed to solve he is extremely happy with the performance of the police. "Yes we do have quite a lot more to do to develop the Police Department in the next two or three years. In 2010 when the Netherlands Antilles dismantled Curacao kept everything and St. Maarten had to start from scratch. I demanded a lot from my officers even though they did not have the tools to do their job, but these officers worked with their heart and soul for the safety of St. Maarten."
De Witte also commented on how much St. Maarten suffered when Curacao decided to cut St. Maarten out from the BMS system. De Witte said the police are severely affected but the decision was political. He stated that he is quite disappointed with the outcome because cutting out St. Maarten has not helped the island because they have no access to their internal figures.