by Eulana Weekes
St Kitts and Nevis (WINN): The Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force will be enforcing Law and Order at the St. Kitts Music Festival to ensure that the event is incident free. This was expressed by Superintendent Travis Rogers during the Music Festival Press Conference on Tuesday, June 7, 2022.
The Superintendent said The Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force in collaboration with the St. Kitts Nevis Defence Force are the two law enforcement agencies charged with the security of the event and already have plans in place to ensure all stakeholders are safe. He said adequate law enforcement officers will be strategically placed in and around the event to deal with incidents.
Rogers reminded, “fights are against the law, so those people will definitely be arrested, charged or if we use any other strategy, will get them out of the event because it is a paid event. It is an enjoyable event and we are admonishing our people to put on their best behaviour.”
In addition, Superintendent Rogers emphasised that smoking in public is against the law, noting that at the St. Kitts Music Festival, a search team will be present to ensure that individuals do not enter the venue with marijuana, cigarettes, and other related substances.
Rogers added that weapons, including firearms, will not be allowed into the venue, not even if the firearm is licensed.
“I want to take this opportunity to mention that persons are in the habit of bringing their licensed firearms to the event but this will be absolutely a no, no; and we ask that you leave it at home secured or if you don’t want to do that, we encourage you to take it to the nearest police station which is feasible because you would want to be taking it from the [police] station to your residence for protection.”
An exception will be given to off duty law enforcement officers who are carrying a firearm. However, such officers must present a valid law enforcement ID and must indicate to individuals working at the gate that they are carrying a firearm.
Rogers shared that the enforcement officers will attempt to carry out their duties effectively and ensure that illegal materials are confiscated and do not reach the venue.
“We’re going to be trying our utmost best. We know that we are going to have challenges because the venue itself is not totally secured with a roof and things can be thrown in from outside or be hidden. We will be working from internal to the outside and external to the inside.”
Another matter of juvenile drinking was addressed by the Superintendent, explaining that individuals may be asked to provide an identification card if there is any uncertainty in regards to age.
“We would like to highlight that the event is truly an adult event, but some people are looking an age more than what they actually are. What we will ask our security personnel to do is, if we have any discrepancies with a patron who is entering the gates, they must present an ID to indicate their age. This may be difficult because there will be lots of patrons who will turn up [to the event]; but where possible, our law enforcement officers will enforce [the law], because the drinking age is 18.
Rogers encouraged all stakeholders attending the event to behave in accordance with the laws of St Kitts and Nevis and also ensure that the event is held without any incidents.
“No incident so far, for all of the Music Festival has marred or prevented the event from going on. This year is no exception. The police will be there in their numbers. We will be professional, but we will be forceful. We want you to enjoy yourselves, so be on your best behaviour.”
