Crime, traffic management and public safety have become central issues in discussions surrounding Saint Lucia’s economic stability and business climate, as members of the business community met with senior police officials on May 20 for a high-level engagement aimed at addressing growing concerns over criminal activity and security.
The discussions brought together representatives of the business sector and the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force to examine crime prevention strategies, policing plans, traffic management and broader public safety concerns affecting commercial activity across the island.
President of the Chamber of Commerce, Nicholas Barnard, said the meeting provided reassurance to members of the business community regarding the level of work taking place behind the scenes within the police force.
“Sometimes we have a little skepticism that the police are not doing what they should and I think today we’re sort of being reassured that in fact behind the scenes there’s a lot of work going on,” Barnard stated.
“There’s a lot of plans. The commissioner is, you know, he has 127 points of action that he wants to look at and, you know, they’re showing great competence, but they wanted to show us that in fact there is a lot going on behind the scenes and we’re seeing that today,” he added.
Barnard explained that while some operational details remain confidential, the meeting allowed business leaders to better understand the police force’s broader strategy for public safety and crime reduction.
“They’re bringing some of it forward. Obviously some of it is confidential but I think it’s just a reassurance for the business community and of course we will then have the opportunity to, you know, express to them what our concerns are and how they intend to address them,” he said.
Among the key issues discussed were traffic congestion, parking management, police checkpoints and intelligence-led policing.
“Right now they’re doing traffic management, for instance, and the demerit points and traffic management as a whole. Looking at also parking issues, flow issues, etc., police checkpoints, how that’s done, how that’s conducted,” Barnard noted.
“And earlier on today we talked about intelligence, police intelligence. We talked about the murder situation and crime solving and so on and how successful they’ve been in apprehending so many of the people who have been deemed as being the people responsible for these crimes,” he added.
Commissioner of Police Verne Garde said the police force remains committed to working closely with the business community as part of its broader strategic policing agenda.
“One of the major concerns that they have is the ease of traffic along the roads and byways and we have given some undertaking that our actions as road safety officers will redound in a proper flow of traffic moving forward,” Garde explained.
The Commissioner said the engagement also formed part of the police force’s long-term strategic planning for the period 2026 to 2030.
“We’ve presented the high command to deal with sensitizing the Chamber of Commerce in regards to our plan for 2026 to 2030,” he said.
“We’ve also worked working with them to ensure that we have a good ease of traffic throughout the roads and highways in Saint Lucia. So it’s a relationship that I spoke about in or around the 2nd of September 2024,” Garde added.
The meeting comes amid increasing national concern over violent crime and its potential impact on investment, tourism and overall economic confidence, with stakeholders stressing that public safety remains essential to the country’s long-term development.