Forensic Director: Royal St Christopher & Nevis Police with Forensic Dept have solved various cases in past 3 years

St Kitts and Nevis: Director of the Forensic Department, Latoya Lake-Marshall, made a special appearance on the virtual forum series – Leadership Matters on March 1, 2022. In the series, she stated that the Royal St Christopher and Nevis Police Force, in collaboration with the Forensic Department, have successfully solved many crimes.

While replying to a question presented on the recent successes of the department, she said, “We have solved quite a bit of murder in previous three years, from 2018 to present, via ballistics links from our lab [with our] comparison microscope led by our ballistics examiner, according to the statics”.

The Forensic Director further notified that when she joined the Federation, she hit the ground running and, along with the team, linked some sexual offence cases to the perpetrators.

She further recalled one of the perpetrators, who was linked with six offensive scenes, including rape as well as robbery.

Later, she praised the department and stated that it has been technologically advanced. The department possesses an Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS System), which assists in extracting prints from the scenes.

Furthermore, she explained and stated that the department’s technicians effectively extracted prints from the scene.

She added, “Once we get the sample of the fingerprint, we return to the laboratory, and we deal with processing. We have been very effective with our collections, we have had major successes in various offences, we have linked more than one case, and when you’re a specialist, and you can link matters together, that means you are doing something well.”

She concluded while underscoring the motto of the Forensic Department of St Kitts and Nevis, which says – Detection with a Passion.

During the same day, the forensic director applauded the government of St Kitts and Nevis for providing huge investment towards forensic science, which in return offers significant benefits to the Federation.

She stated that because of the support of the government, the department has successfully worked towards decreasing the number of homicide as well as criminal cases in the country for the past three years.

She was quoted saying, “I am proud that St Kitts and Nevis government has significantly invested towards science, which has helped in a significant decrease in homicides and criminal cases in past three years.