ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – The Dominica government Monday confirmed that members of the Barbados-based Regional Security System (RSS) are on the island “to assist law enforcement in ridding the streets of illegal firearms”.
“Yes, the RSS is in Dominica, and the RSS is here to support the police in eradicating the presence of illegal firearms. Anyone who has it, we take it from you…and one may say it is just a few murders, but every country started with one, and it got to 15, and it got to 25, and it got to 67, and it got to 100, and it got to 600,” Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit told a news conference.
“And so, the Regional Security System was established to support each other in maintaining and enhancing the security of the region, but also the security of each member-state. On the advice of the Chief of Police and the Minister of National Security, who agree, to have the RSS join the police in our efforts towards eradicating the presence of illegal firearms in the country.”
The RSS was established in response to the need for a collective response to security threats that were impacting the region’s stability in the early 1970s and 1980s. In October 1982, four members of the Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), namely, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Barbados to provide for “mutual assistance on request”.
St. Kitts and Nevis joined after gaining independence in September 1983, and Grenada in January 1985. The MOU was updated in 1992, and the RSS acquired juridical status in March 1996 through the Treaty, which was signed in St. George’s, Grenada. In 2022, Guyana joined the RSS.
Skerrit told reporters that the security of the state and the citizens and residents of Dominica is “the government’s priority.
“If the country is unsafe, then everything else will fail. And we do not want to have a situation in Dominica where we cannot drive freely or go to the beach, or go to the river, or be afraid to walk the streets.
“We have to ensure that this doesn’t happen in Dominica and that the respect for life is paramount, and that…violence and the presence of illegal firearms in our country does not become commonplace,” Skerrit told reporters.
He said he wanted to condemn “in the strongest possible terms, all acts of violence which bring pain and fear to our communities,” adding “violence has no place in our society, and I call on every citizen to join in building a culture of peace and tolerance.
“As a Government, we remain committed to ensuring the safety and security of every Dominican. In recent months, we have taken steps to strengthen law enforcement’s ability to curb violent crime, including measures to address the illegal use of firearms and improve the resources available to the Police Force. These are important steps, but we recognize that more must be done.”
Skerrit said that his administration will continue to support the police with the training, tools, and technology needed to detect and prevent crime, and to bring offenders to justice.
“I want to reiterate that while the government will continue to take a zero-tolerance approach to violent crime, this is not solely a Skerrit matter or a Government matter. It is the responsibility of every Dominican to play their part in protecting our communities.
“Parents, churches, schools, civil society and community leaders all have an important role to play in shaping values, guiding our young people and rejecting the culture of violence,” Skerrit said, adding, “I continue to engage law enforcement in our efforts to tackle this issue”.
He also said that the “priority fight for the country now is illegal firearms,” warning that his government “will not sit idly by and not seek to try all of the opportunities that are available to the state and the police to bring a sense of calm and normalcy to our country”.
Skerrit said while the government recognises that the recent incidents are targeted, “every life is important, and no one has the authority to take anybody’s life under any circumstance”.
and then  are on the island "to assist){kind=link}