Instead, Prime Minister Pierre says the investment in the police force and social programmes will increase in the coming months and with this year’s budget.

“We’ve given the police more resources than the last government gave for the last five years they were in power. We’ve given them more independent operational strength, we’ve increased their numbers, [and] we’ve increased their physical space. What we are doing is what any government can do. Last week, we gave the government two vehicles. This week, we’re giving them another two. We’ve given them drones, we’ve given them the technology to improve their fingerprinting capabilities,” Prime Minister Pierre said.

Pierre says with the increased independence the police have, they can use the full extent of the law to bring criminals to justice.

“Police have all the powers within the law to bring an end to the situation - all the powers within the law and observance of the human rights of individuals,” he said.

Pierre adds that the government continues its work with non-governmental agencies to implement social programmes. The Prime Minister says these initiatives will help address crime at its roots.

“Last week, the SSDF had a major event to get non-state actors in touch so we can have social interventions. This government has had the most social interventions to deal with crime than any government before. We’ve put resources and money and that will continue. So this idea that this government is staying back and allowing crime to fester is wrong,” Pierre contended.