Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 12, 2015 (RSCNPF): Prime Minister of the Federation and Minister with responsibility for the Ministry of National Security, Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris, had the opportunity to inspect first hand the new and very expensive Olympus SZX16 Comparison Microscope that was recently added to the Forensic Services Unit (FSU) of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force.
This scheduled visit that occurred earlier today (12th November) was to update the Prime Minister on the crime fighting efforts being executed at the Police Force, in efforts to solve and reduce crime.
In response to the inspection and a brief overview of the many functions that can be performed by the new microscope, PM Harris while speaking to the media stated that, “We now have on board the very special microscope, one of the latest in terms of the forensic resources that is added to the Unit to ensure that the challenges that we have to confront with respect to crime and the use of fire arms in particular, we are perhaps one step ahead and we can do a variety of test, we can do matching, we can do comparisons and therefore we are able not only to attach criminals to one particular crime scene, but perhaps where there have been multiple cases in engagement of the same fire arm or the same personality, that could become in the very reliable way in the pursuance of justice.”
He added, “… this country must always be safe and secured, and it is the duty of every officer which ever unit they are in, every officer of the police force has a duty, which we hope they will hold sacred to pursuit law and order.”
This “has been a learning and instructive experience” Prime Minister Harris stated.
The Olympus SZX16 Comparison Microscope is used to examine shell casings from crime scenes for comparisons and special markings. This is useful for linking shell casings to specific guns used in criminal activities. The microscope is also used to examine and compare handwritten documents.