Members of the public have raised concerns about the lack of confidentiality among officers in the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF), pointing to this as a hindrance to the national fight against crime.

The topic was raised at one in a series of town hall meetings aimed at educating the public about the upcoming gun amnesty which runs from March 1 to May 31.

The amnesty was announced in 2023, a record year for homicides in SVG with a total of 55, while six murders have already been recorded for this year. More than half of the murders for 2024, have been committed with the use of a firearm.

Residents from Calliaqua and surrounding communities attended the interactive session where they had the opportunity to interact with, and question senior police officers on the amnesty.

One female resident laid the blame for the challenges in the crime fighting effort at the feet of “chatty” officers who she accused of putting the lives of the public in jeopardy.

“There is no confidentiality because when somebody calls the police station, as soon as the person hangs up the phone, they call or text somebody and say ‘Mary just call here and make a report’. That is the biggest problem. You have to talk to your officers.”

The resident told those at the town hall she believes mobile phones, particularly social media, is the root cause of breaches of confidentiality among officers and the public.

“This is why people are getting killed, your officers are talking too much and people are losing their lives and it is a serious, serious thing,” she charged.

Deputy Commissioner, Frankie Joseph, who led the town hall meeting acknowledged the concerns of the resident.

During the discussion he admitted to the breakdown of trust between officers and citizens. The Deputy CoP said the Force was committed to improving community relations.

“One of the things that we need to do to improve our solving rate is to improve our relationship with the communities. If we can improve our relationship and improve on the issue of confidentiality that would help us to eliminate about 80 percent of the challenges that we are facing,” he pointed out.

The next town hall meeting will be held in Georgetown on February 15.