The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe said Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander would meet Metro Security Solutions leaders, hoping to get on the same page about the ankle monitoring system after the two sides blamed the other for challenges.

People on bail comprise a prominent subset of murder victims. Ministry of National Security consultant Carlos Reid told The Tribune last year that the ankle monitoring system company is ineffective. The company’s president, Orion Bethel, countered that police don’t always respond to notifications about people breaking bail conditions.

Commissioner Fernander later highlighted cases of people on bail travelling outside the jurisdiction contrary to their bail conditions.

“That is something that should have been picked up if they are leaving the jurisdiction and the police notified so that we could move in and put them back before the court,” he said.

During yesterday’s press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr Munroe said “finger-pointing is not productive”.

“The police are saying what they are saying, the vendor is saying, look, every time somebody does that, you instantly get a text message to say so-and-so has done this, and you can locate him at that point, but you all don’t respond,” he said.

“So, the finger-pointing is something that is not productive, and the commissioner says to me that they will meet to resolve it because, quite frankly, you say you’re not doing your job, and they say the police aren’t doing their job and the objective is that we have to maximise the use and efficiency of any technology.”

Mr Bethel told The Tribune last year that its system automatically sends SMS messages to police officers when someone breaches a bail condition.

He said the company updates the Ministry of National Security every two days and that 85 per cent of people wearing ankle bracelets comply with bail conditions.