RSS Fusion Centre to tackle regional crime

 

The Barbados Defence Force (BDF) Paragon Base is now the home to an operational centre aimed at tackling regional crime and security threats.
On Monday, the Regional Security System (RSS) Fusion Centre, a United Kingdom (UK) funded facility was officially opened by Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Freundel Stuart, after 18 months of construction at a cost of £3 million.
 
The new Fusion Centre will bring together law enforcement and other agencies involved in crime and security work across RSS Member States, to work collaboratively to share intelligence and capabilities, in the fight against various organised crime threats.
 
Prime Minister Stuart said that the opening of the Centre is not only testimony to the strong relations which exist between the British Government and the Caribbean, but it is also a strategic initiative aimed at strengthening those policy steps and methodologies to be employed as they relate to defence and security.
 
He assured Her Excellency, Victoria Dean, British High Commissioner that through the RSS, effective use will be made of the Fusion Centre, in the process of taking border protection and security in this region to a higher level.
 
“National Security has always been an inescapable responsibility of the state. The primary security objective of all Member States in this region must continue to be the establishment and maintenance of a peaceful, safe, secure and stable environment that is conducive to social harmony and national development.”
 
“The Caribbean needs all of the tools it can muster to gird itself for the unending struggle to preserve and protect our region from those who persistently traffic drugs, small arms and light weapons and who spread terror,” Stuart stressed, further expressing that the Council of Ministers of the RSS is deeply appreciative of the generous gesture by the British Government, which adds another powerful string to their law enforcement bow.
 
The RSS FC is a state of the art building that includes a suite of offices and latest IT systems, as well as an overnight accommodation block for visiting staff from Member States.
 
High Commissioner Dean revealed that the lead UK agency involved in making the Centre a reality has been the National Crime Agency (NCA).
 
“This building is the commitment from the NCA and UK of their ongoing support and their belief in the concept of this Fusion Centre… What we see here is local, regionally and internationally players being able to work together, sharing information, sharing capabilities and sharing experience.”
 
“We know that criminal groups operate internationally and without borders. Law enforcement and governments need to be flexible and need to look outwards for support and for corporation in order to win. Therefore, it is the Fusion Centre and projects like this in which we co-operate and collaborate that can answer those needs,” she pointed out.
 
Already, local and international law enforcement officers have begun working at the building, and over the past six weeks have contributed to a number of significant seizures of illicit drugs, firearms and cash, being smuggled across the Eastern Caribbean.

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