By Aabigayle McIntosh

Legislation giving them permission to impose a limited state of emergency in specific areas to deal with isolated situations is among a number of recommendations the police will be submitting to the government.

Police Commissioner Rodney said this is included in a raft of proposals to be included in the Chapter 330, the legislation which governs the police force.

The legislation is currently before Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda.

Rodney said this will assist with their crime-fighting efforts.

“One of the things that we don’t have in Antigua and Barbuda is this limited state of emergency measures that if there is a problem in a particular area you could impose that and deal with thematter in this area. We do not have that legislation here,” he stated.

According to the to cop this procedure is already in effect in the Caribbean nation of Belize, where it was used recently, Barbados, Jamaica, and other territories.

“These are some of the changes that we are asking for in our legislation that is up for review by the parliament. That would assist us in dealing with a problem in a particular area”.

The commissioner will also be pushing for legislation to permit the use of modern equipment such as mace, taser guns and body cams to fight crime.

“We would want them because of non-lethal weapons is the way to go. They are a number of situations which can be de-escalated with non-lethal weapons and we want legislations to assist us with that,” Rodney said.