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Archive - Archive 2004 - July 2013

Fight against crime gets major boost |19 July 2013

Fight against crime gets major boost

Unveiling the plaque to mark the hand-over of the system to the Seychelles Police


The system has been donated by Interpol in the framework of the critical maritime routes law enforcement agencies programmes sponsored by the European Union.

The hand-over ceremony took place at the Scientific Support and Crime Record Bureau (SS&CRB) at Mont Fleuri in the presence of the Minister for Home Affairs and Transport Joel Morgan, British high commissioner Lindsay Skoll and French ambassador Genevieve Iancu, who were representing the European Union, the Interpol executive director for police services Jean Michel Louboutin, who was present to commemorate the special event, Interpol project manager Serge Epouhe, Police Commissioner Ernest Quatre, Chief Superintendent and Commanding Officer of the SS&CRB Reginald Elizabeth, police officers and other guests.

Afis comes at a time when the Seychelles’ Police is modernising its equipment and training its personnel to better serve the general public.  
 
Faced with the challenges of crimes and offenders who are becoming more skillful in avoiding detection, Afis is a milestone in allowing the police to gather precise evidence or data in order to effectively prosecute criminals. 

The Afis, now in full mode operation, is a system that has been designed to match one or many unidentified fingerprints against a database of known and unknown prints. 

“This adds another level to our own continuing efforts, which are making headway not only with local criminal cases but which connect us with allied law enforcement agencies around the world as well,” said Minister Morgan.

“The Afis has enabled the police department to skillfully solve a number of pending criminal cases, which had previously remained unsolved due to the limitation of manual search processes,” added Minister Morgan. 

Guests are given a preview of how the system works

Mr Louboutin stated he is proud of the donation which aims at making criminal identification and retrieving information quicker. 
The equipment is also expected to be vital in crime detection thus boosting the success rate of prosecutions. 

Mr Elizabeth pointed out that the system improves the police force’s capacity to defend victims and apprehend criminals. 

“It is a step forward away from outdated manual practices such as the use of paper cards for identifying prints which was prone to moisture or fire,” he said.

Minister Morgan thanked the European Union for funding this much needed project. 

His appreciation also went to Commissioner Quatre for “his initiative and vision for acquiring the forensic facility with international connectivity to enhance the efficiency of policing and pursuing down not only local criminals and violators of the law, but also global criminals”. 

He also thanked Mr Epouhe for ensuring the complete installation of the system and training of the SS&CRB staff.

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