What Law Enforcement Council says …
about handling criminal cases on St. Maarten.
The Law Enforcement Council report states that relevant judicial organizations such as the St. Maarten Police Force (KPSM) the National Detectives Agency (NDA) and the Prosecutor’s Office (OM) are generally equipped to expeditiously handle criminal cases in reasonable time.
The same Law Enforcement Council released a report earlier in 2023 , with focus on 2022, claiming that government needs to invest more in justice to yield more positive results when solving crime. https://www.cmoorejournal.com/2023/05/30/serious-lack-of-law-enforcement-in-sxm-justice-ministry/ Their recent report focusing on 2023 is now stating that the St. Maarten Police Force KPSM, the National Detective Agency and the Prosecutor’s Office are showing signs of improvement, and are now expeditiously handling criminal cases in reasonable time.
An analysis on reasonable time:
Reasonable time according to the law enforcement council, is a maximum of two years and that time span, says their recent report aligns with international standards and are implemented in our local Laws and regulations. In a small community like St. Maarten, where one can commit a crime one day and leave the Island the next day, surely, the best lead time to follow up on traces of evidence and possible leads would be when the case is hot. What message is sent to criminals when they are allowed to walk free for up to two years before reasonable time expires? and only then, law enforcement rushes to complete the investigation when the case is gone cold. If that is the way it’s done, it only leaves room for errors.
In the robbery /murder case involving retired Judge Manning whose wife was killed during a burglary of their home, the question is, how much lead time is necessary to gather evidence of missing items and possible leads of suspects to effect results; This case have been sitting dormant for 15 months without one suspect been questioned. Could that be considered improvement? despite numerous leads and possible suspects which were handed over to investigators, the question remains, does Law Enforcement needs 2 years to complete this case in a small community like ours?
Cases like these gives enough insights that the Criminal Justice System is not expeditious and the Council is not convinced: They are hoping however, that if the recommendations are followed, it can contribute to further improvement of the lead time of criminal cases. If the investigation and prosecution can be done more quickly, the Council believes this should be done for the benefit of both suspects and victims.
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