 My dear St. Lucian's, from the commencement of this year, a total of seven homicides have been recorded. This figure is unacceptable. The blatant disregard for the law and the clear intention of the few to cause mayhem and instill fear with the commission of these senseless, retaliatory fashion murders must be arrested. There has been a concerted effort by the men and the women of the Royal St. Lucian Police Force to increase operations and detection rates along with broadening of preventative measures through collaborations with various stakeholders. These efforts have produced results. As this year, our successes in terms of firearm and ammunition seizures have continued to be underlying. Major operations have been spearheaded in several communities, which resulted in the arrest of numerous suspects, seizures of prohibited and restricted items, cash and drug trafficking interventions to name a few. There have also been strides in deterring crime, as officers utilize critical information obtained to prevent incidents of crime. Intelligence-driven tactics have been deployed to avert numerous instances of violence. For the commitment to safeguarding the citizenry to my officers, I say thank you and urge you to continue your endeavors. We will place even greater emphasis on our community police and drives and not allow those who break the law to disrupt our accomplishments in guaranteeing peace in every corner of the country. I urge each of you to continue to render impassioned service where ultimately our integrity will always be maintained. Despite all these positive strides, a small percentage of the population has continued their criminal operations in what can only be described as targeted attacks on the security of the country. Collectively, we will take a stance against this lawlessness. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. It is time for resounding outcry and stern admonishment accompanied by forceful reminder that such practices will not be tolerated. We have seen that crime has far-reaching tentacles. No area is immune to its effects. So it is everyone's responsibility to contribute in the fight against crime. The belief that the mammoth task of crime reduction is solely that of the police to shoulder is one we quickly need to dispel. Such notions only serve to embolden persons who commit unlawful acts and who feed off the hands-off attitude of the public. I implore you the public, our most critical partner in this, to cooperate with us, utilize the various reporting platforms such as our crime hotline, our crime app or otherwise to provide the information regarding crime to the relevant authorities. It is impossible for the police to know and act unless you stand up and report it. Let us see the practice of enabling a cycle of violence. As a nation, we cannot allow ourselves to become a population grappled with fear. We are Saint Lucians, we are proud, we are resilient and we are definitely not victims. Let us not allow criminals who contribute little but being nuisances control our national security narrative. The Royal Saint Lucia Police Force will continue to make persons who engage in this outright criminality uncomfortable. We will continue within the parameters of the law our efforts to find you and make it impossible for you to have a sense of peace. Note that the law empowers the police now more than ever to destabilize and dismantle your operations and that we will achieve. Saint Lucia, together we can, we have and we will. I thank you.