News

National Security Minister, Hon. Charles Savarin is of the firm view that members of the public need to come forward to assist the police in reducing the number of illegal firearms circulating in the country.

The Minister made the observation during an exclusive interview with the Government Information Service (GIS) recently.

“I am of the firm view that there is no criminal activity which takes place in Dominica or in any other country where there isn’t someone other than the perpetrator who is aware of what has happened or is about to happen. There are people other than those who hold illegal firearms who are aware that certain persons have illegal firearms.”

The Minister says a special Crimestoppers hotline was recently established to assist in that effort.

“We have introduced a police hint line where people can anonymously call and give information to the police. Recently too we began operating a Crimestoppers line. While the police hint line is operated from the Police Headquarters, the Crimestoppers line is operated out of state in Canada. One can pick up the phone call Crimestoppers give information and that information is communicated to the local police.”

The Minister is assuring the public that the information given to Crimestoppers will be treated with outmost confidentiality.

“The person receiving the information is non Dominican so he or she will not be able to recognize who is calling. The concerns that people have that information given to the police are not treated with the strictest confidence should be removed because you can now give information without any risk of identification.”

The National Security Minister is hoping that members of the public will take advantage of these facilities to assist in keeping Dominica safe.

The Minister is however cautioning members of the public against providing false information to the Crimestoppers hotline.

“People will seek to play games but we are hoping that the vast majority of Dominicans will recognize that this is a serious matter and that the security of the State is their own personal security.”

The Minister of National Security has assured the public that callers to the Crimestoppers hotline will greatly assist the police in solving existing investigations or bring to light unknown criminal activity on the island.