Press Release
U.S. and Dominica sign agreement to help trace illegal guns
Bridgetown, Barbados, Wednesday, April 1, 2009 – Dominica today joined eight other Caribbean islands when it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a United States law enforcement agency which will greatly enhance their ability to track and fight firearms trafficking and illegal possession in the region.
In a brief ceremony at the United States Embassy Wednesday which was witnessed by United States Charge? d’Affaires to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean D. Brent Hardt, Giselle Allport, Senior Administrative Officer in the Prime Minister’s Office signed an eTrace agreement with the United States’ Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF). William Kullman signed on behalf of the ATF
eTrace is a paperless firearm trace submission system that is accessible through a secure connection to the World Wide Web. This Internet application provides the necessary utilities for submitting, retrieving, storing and querying firearms trace-related information and allowing for the systematic tracing of firearms recovered from crime scenes.
Analysis of firearms trace data can assist in the identification of firearms trafficking patterns and geographic profiling for criminal hot spots and possible sources of illicit firearms.
The MOU establishes conditions of the partnership between ATF and those countries regarding policy and procedures for the access and use of eTrace services made available to law enforcement agencies.
U.S. envoy Hardt told a similar ceremony on Tuesday that the event represented another “important step forward in the longstanding tradition of close law enforcement cooperation between the United States and the Caribbean.”
He said coming out of the U.S. –Caribbean Conference in 2007 the region and the U.S. and the region both realized the rising threat from the trafficking in small arms and lights weapons and joined forces to fight it.
“Recognizing our shared desire to protect our citizens, CARICOM and the U.S. resolved ‘to combat illicit arms trafficking relentlessly through vigorous co-operation.’ To do so, our countries agreed on a number of measures including the strengthened import and export controls, better information sharing on those involved in illicit trafficking, and new efforts to promote the tracing of firearms recovered in connection with illicit activities,” he noted.
Dr. Hardt said currently over 2 000 law enforcement agencies in the United States subscribed to eTrace and information derived through that program had helped in the investigation of thousands of crimes.
He added that given its immense success in the U.S. the government decided to offer the program to allies and key partners overseas.
On Tuesday police Commissioners and senior officers from Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Curacao, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines signed son to the eTrace agreement.