Police committed to solving
robberies, says Panneflek
~ More police presence expected in Philipsburg ~
PHILIPSBURG--The criminals responsible for the series of armed robberies on Front Street can expect the same fate as all the criminals that police have arrested of late.
Police Acting Chief Commissioner Richard Panneflek assured that as of today more attention would be given to enhancing the sense of safety again in the centre of Philipsburg and to apprehending the persons responsible for the recent spate of armed robberies as soon as possible.
The St. Maarten community was once again shocked on Thursday after learning that a jewellery store on Front Street had been robbed in broad daylight.
Panneflek told The Daily Herald the visibility of police on the street in Philipsburg would be increased. He condemned the robberies and said the criminals were spoiling the sense of safety for the entire St. Maarten community.
He said the Police Force must once again shift its priorities.
Panneflek pointed out that all police work had to be done within the availability of human resource and material the Police Force had at its disposal.
“Taking all the recent reports published about crime and upholding the law in St. Maarten, they all refer to putting priorities in certain areas. Putting priorities means that other areas will receive less attention.”
For example, he said that in some countries setting priorities even meant that crime committed in other areas would be accepted to a certain extent.
However, he refused to accept any percentage of crime in any area in St. Maarten and stressed that the Police Force would be attending to the robberies.
He said there was a lot of work to be done and the Police Force had received assistance from Dutch Marechausees and personnel of the Kingdom Detective Cooperation Team RST.
“Criminals do not adhere to any rules when they commit their crimes. We have to investigate according to the rules of law so they can be convicted. However, this takes time to do.”
As an example, Panneflek said that seven arrests had been made recently in connection with illegal transport of drugs via the aero cargo. “A lot of time went into this investigation.”
He pointed out also that several armed robbers had been caught recently, the situation with gypsy taxis and buses in town had been dealt with and police had held several traffic controls.
“We hear that the problem of gypsies is returning and now we have this new group of robbers busy in town. Therefore the priority will shift again towards the centre of Philipsburg to attend to these matters.”
The shifting of priorities, Panneflek said, has a negative side in the sense that other areas on which police have been working to improve the overall functioning of the force and to assist the islands of Saba and St. Eustatius will be hampered temporarily.
