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  by pltm
• Oct 19, 2018
• 4

(PLTM) - Recently, during a drug-related trial in the Magistrate’s Court, Magistrate Shawn Innocent raised concern over the revelation by a Police Officer that a forensic drug analyst has not been in the territory since 2017.

The Magistrate reminded that a forensic analysis of any substance believed to be a drug is critical in prosecuting cases, as one of the deciding factors of a court decision is whether the prosecution was able to prove that the substance a defendant is being charged for is actually an illegal drug.

He reminded that even though a substance may be an illegal drug from all appearances, the test is necessary to prove that to the court.

Further checks with the Commissioner of Police, Michael Matthews by BVI Platinum News revealed that the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF) does not have a drug analyst on staff to conduct these necessary tests.

“We don’t employ anybody locally here with regard to that. That’s somebody who we contract to come in and we have to wait on them to actually come and perform that function for us,” he stated.

Due to the current wait for the analyst to return, he shared that there is a backlog in cases that require testing, saying, “We have asked for the individual we normally contract to come back to the territory to do that and we are waiting on a date for that individual to come to the territory and actually do some of the drugs analysis that we’re waiting on for a few cases.“

It was further disclosed that the contracted analyst visits the territory about four times per year.

“It depends really on the amount of drug cases we have. The analyst has to confirm exactly what the drug is and actually provide that to the court, and if we didn’t have a number of cases, then we wouldn’t ask them to come,” the Commissioner stated.

Despite the important role that such an analyst plays in the criminal justice system, Commissioner Matthews is of the view that it would not be economical to employ someone to perform the role on a full time basis.

“We have analysts in the force that actually do a different range of work. From an analytical perspective, the force is well equipped. This is a specialist….and the volume of work just wouldn’t be there to have somebody full time,” he stated.